What didn't he do?

Nate was in Detroit this weekend, so Carson and I spent Saturday and Sunday sans Daddy. After a very long Saturday morning at home, I decided to take Carson to El Agave, our local chips and salsa dive. Here's how it went down:

Carson started off dipping his chips in to the bowl of queso. This turned in to him dipping his fingers in the queso, which morphed in to him putting his hands in the queso. I improvised and shoved a napkin in his shirt to try to avoid the mess. To show me how much he loved his "bib," he threw his chips and the queso on the floor. My tacos hadn't even arrived yet! Once they did, I asked for a Styrofoam cup of lemonade for my little monster. This occupied him long enough for me to eat 1 3/4 tacos. As I attempted to eat the last bit of my meal, Carson threw his Styrofoam cup on the floor, which broke and spilled lemonade everywhere. Great. As I was trying to clean him up before rushing out of El Agave (Mind you, we had only been there for 15 minutes!), he started up a wave-fest with an older couple sitting across the room. As I was pulling him out of his high-chair, he burped so loud the entire restaurant erupted in laughter.

Parenthood is wonderful.

Giddy on up!

Carson's "quickstep" is slowly improving. (Yes, I am flipping back and forth between the NCAA championship game and Dancing with the Stars.)

The Hunt

"Grammie, Paw-Paw...EGGS!" (I had to wake my parents up on Easter Sunday for "eggs." For some reason they thought I meant breakfast. Guys, you are out of practice!)

It was too cold to do our morning Easter Egg Hunt outside, so Nate and I improvised and hid goodies in the dining room. Carson could have cared less where he was; he was all about the eggs. Who says you need green grass and an Easter outfit for a good hunt?!

Chariot

We've been meaning to get Carson a wagon for quite a while. He likes it so much that I now feel guilty we waited so long!

EGG-stravaganza

Carson's day care hosted an Easter egg hunt this past Saturday. I'm posting a few of the videos I took for your viewing enjoyment. (Face it, grandparents; you are the only people who will watch these clips over and over again!)

Good luck making it through the chaotic commentary. What a mess!

18-month Stats

Carson was such a peach at today's check-up that I bailed without getting his 18-month stats. (There's some extreme sarcasm in that statement in case you can't tell.) And now that I think of it, I didn't make his 24-month appointment. Oh, well. Based on his fit-throwing behavior at the doctor's office, I should have known not to stop at Target afterwards. After 30 seconds of being in the cart, Carson stood up and screamed at the top of his lungs. What did I do next? I bribed him with licorice. We headed straight for the candy aisle and I tore open a Red Vines bag. After 10+ pieces of licorice (half of which ended up on the floor), I decided to scrap the trip and head home. Before I got out of the store some idiot-lady stocking the shelves said, "Boy, he's not a happy baby." My response: "He isn't a baby. He's a toddler, and this is what they do!" B%t*h!

And here's all I remember about Carson's growth stats.....97% height and 28 lbs and a few ounces. Good thing summer is around the corner, because he's outgrowing his 18-24 month pants!

Right of Passage

Nate had dinner last night with a high school buddy, which meant I was in charge of Carson's night time routine. No big deal really, except for the fact that Carson puked all over himself, his plate and the table during dinner. I cleaned him up and we ate a few crackers before bed. I later chalked the incident up to "lots of outside play at daycare." Wrong. When Nate and I went upstairs this morning to get Carson out of bed, we were overwhelmed by the smell of BARF. The kid had thrown up during the night (without screaming out or interrupting his sleep, mind you). There were dried chunks on his pjs, in his hair, all over his loveys and blankets, etc. Needless to say, Nate gave him a bath and I cleaned up the mess. We're home today without any other "outbreaks." The funny in all of this...what did Carson say to us when we walked in to his room this morning? "Uh-oh."

Nate's Nook

We recently added a seating area to our breakfast nook. (This was Nate's idea, so we've dubbed it "Nate's Nook.") Carson seems to like the space...he eats his snacks there, climbs on the chairs after dinner, sits with me when I'm trying to read, watches TV with Nate there, etc. Needless to say, Carson is glad we moved some stuff around.

The natives are restless!

I could barely get Carson to the table after he spent time on the deck with me as I grilled dinner. He can't wait for more sunshine!

Input

Calling all mommas.......Carson will be moving in to a "big boy" bed in the next month or so in anticipation of #2's arrival. Any suggestions on bed rails/ safety rails? There are freaking tons to choose from and my head is spinning when trying to assess them all. (We are not doing the toddler bed thing and plan to put him directly in to a full bed.)

HELP!

My toddler...

...blew out his diaper this past week. Gross! (Nate cleaned up the dirty deed.)



...loves licorice more than fruit snacks. (Is that even possible?!)


...has learned to "shhh" people. One of the kids in his room was being noisy during nap time and Carson lifted up his head and said, "Shhhhhhh!" (Smarty pants!)

"Deep in the heart of Texas...."

Nate and I had a great time in San Antonio! The weather was perfect (We actually laid out at our hotel's roof-top pool and got sun burnt!); our hotel location was awesome. The food was excellent, and our couple's massage was a treat. My "mommy-friendly" flats and Pumas didn't let me down -- we spent hours (days, really) walking around down town San Antonio checking out the Alamo, the historic Menger Hotel, the Rivercenter Mall, the River Walk, San Fernando Cathedral, etc. We managed to find a small store off the beaten path that sold jewelry, Stetson "ten-gallon" hats, cowboys boots and giant belt buckets. Nate ended up buying a silver belt buckle...can you say, "Howdy, partner." (I opted for a sterling silver bracelet made by Native American Indians in Montana.)

We did find ourselves talking about Carson's funnies from time to time, which put a smile on both of our faces. Needless to say, it was great to see Carson catapult in to Nate's arms when we got home on Sunday afternoon. (Thank you grandparents for watching our little monster!)

Tik Tok

One of Carson's favorite things to do is dance...in the car, at the mall, after his breakfast, while I'm cooking dinner, etc. He's perfected a new move - spinning! Well, sort of -- see for yourself!

Stowaway

Nate and I are headed to San Antonio later today for a long weekend, or should I say, "babymoon." We figured we'd better get away before #2 adds to the chaos. Carson will be in excellent hands (split between both grandparents) while we're gone, though I think he'd travel in our suitcases it we'd let him. We'll miss you, Bug!

Aliens Among Us

One of the coolest (and weirdest!) things about being pregnant is feeling and SEEING your little bun move around in your belly. I've been feeling movement for a while now but finally saw our little marvel moving around last night while I was sitting on the couch. I immediately yelled over to Nate, "The alien's back!" He ran over to check it out and could say nothing more than, "Those are huge!" (And by huge, he meant the baby's kicks, not my boobs. Though they are huge, too!)


(This is the best my "photog" could get with his iPhone.)

(And this is the best I could do with mine!)

Super Bowl Sunday

For the first time in years, we didn't have people over or go to a Super Bowl party. Instead, we hung out with the Bug and watched the game. Rather than wearing a blue and white tee ("Who Dat" huh?), Carson opted for Rams gear. The Rams may suck, but Carson looks cute in their stuff, so who cares. :)

Momma's Little Helper

It's a...

...very healthy and active BABY! We aren't finding out the sex this time around. : )



(There's nothing like state-of-the-art technology to make you realize just how precious and miraculous growing a baby really is.)

Running Man

Word Worm

Carson has started to chatter...it's been about a month now (Oops, I'm busy at work and tired when I get home, so no time for blogging.) since his first words started flowing. Here's what we have so far:

boon (spoon)
Bob (Bob the Builder)
book (book)
ba-bye (bye-bye)
gitty (kitty)
tan koo (thank you)
gir (girl)
chiza (cheese)
apah (up)

I don't want him to grow up any more than he already has -- I love this stage! (And maybe it's not that I don't want Carson to grow up, but more so I'm still in denial that we are adding to our broad. I love our well-oiled three-person machine!)

Trend?

This kid loves getting "in" to stuff!

Clean Sweep

A kid after my dad's (a.k.a. - "Mr. Clean") heart:

Christmas 2009

After a Ross/Hagen Christmas Eve party, Christmas day with my immediate family, the Flesner/Nelson get-together at our house on the 27th and dinner with Nate's immediate family on the 30th (Boog and Melissa made it in from Detroit!), our holiday "cheer" is finally winding down. Did I mention that the stomach flu made the rounds through at least 10 of the 40+ people who attended the Hagen Christmas Eve party? (I lost 5 pounds after 8 hours of praying to the porcelain God. Oddly enough, after 48 hours of eating and drinking nothing more than crackers and water, my teeth started to ache. Our conclusion -- my teeth were the last resort for calcium for the baby. Seriously.)

Sickness aside, we had a great time with Carson, as did our family. He loved opening presents and pulling things out of boxes (more so than the presents themselves!). While he has yet to grasp the true meaning of Christmas, he does know that quality time with family is part of our tradition.


The similarities are uncanny. :)

Christmas Morning

Veggin' out with Mommy

CMT

Who needs to watch the videos when you've got this as your entertainment:

Action Shots

My friend Kim has been asking me to get a few shots of Carson "on the move", so here you go:

Top Ten Signs You Might Be...

...PREGNANT
10. You crave milk.
9. You aren't able to button your jeans.
8. You fall asleep on the couch at 7:50p three nights in a row.
7. You are irritable.
6. You are exceptionally affected by car-sickness.
5. You feel the need to eat every few hours.
4. You have cramps mid-cycle yet brush them off as early PMS.
3. You need less blush because your cheeks are "rosy."
2. You are ten days late but blame work stress.
1. You stop at White Castle on your way in to the office and order cheese burgers (If you can call them that!) to compliment the coffee you have in hand.

I experienced all of the above prior to "confirming" we were expecting. Ross baby #2 is due June 19th. Carson and "TBD" will be 21 months a part. YIKES!

Precious Moments

After a few hours of trying to get my sick little man down for a nap yesterday (This is the kid who has no problem sleeping - EVER.), I finally decided to try something old school -- we snuggled up together in the chair in his room . (I haven't done this with him since he was a few months old and it was 2 AM.) In addition to the rocker-technique, I also juiced Carson with Tylenol and patted his back, his legs, his head....before I knew it, my Tylenol-dosed munchkin was patting my neck, my shoulder, my arm as he fell asleep. What a precious moment!

Sweet Tooth

Carson has his daddy's sweet tooth, that's for sure. I made brownies last week and both Nate and Carson ate more of them than their dinner!

The Vest Brigade

Sport Clips

I thought this was the place where kiddos go to get their hair, but apparently I was slightly off. Sport Clips is a place for guys, not kids. Oh, well - the end result was the same: my baby's curls were lopped off! Sniffle, sniffle.

Waiting patiently for his turn...

...getting antsy...

...under "the knife"...

...the finished product!