Florida

So far our summer has been very busy. In a matter of six weeks we went to Florida twice. Our first trip was the beginning of May to Rosemary Beach Florida. I have been going to Florida every year since before Carson was born with my mom. Now that there are some many children it has turned into a family affair. This year it was my mom, step-dad, my family and my sister and her two boys. We stay house a few 100 feet from the beach that has a pool. Here are a couple of pictures of the house and the view.


This is the third year we have stayed at Rosemary and the second year we have stayed in this house. It is such a fun time. We spend the day between the beach and the pool and every night we go out to dinner. Most nights after dinner we end up at the kids favorite place the Sugar Shack. The name says it all they have all kids of candy, ice cream, snow cones and cotton candy. The weather was perfect and because we go before school is out it isn't crowded. We had a wonderful vacation and it is always nice to spend time with family. We can't wait for next year to do it again. Here are a few more pictures from our trip.












On our second trip to Florida was at the end of June to Panama City Beach with my dad, step-mom and Dave's parents. Once again we were very lucky and had great weather. We enjoyed our days hanging out by the beach. The water was wonderful the first day and then the rest of our trip was lots of seaweed and red flags. I had quite a few first on this trip. 1. I have never seen the waves in this are so big, it was great for boogie boarding. 2. I caught a starfish, it was really neat. 3. Dave and I went para-sailing. I thought I would be scared with the height but it was actually very calming. We saw some big fish swimming in the water. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed spending time with family. Here are some pictures from this trip.

Falling Behind

I keep telling myself that I am going to try and do at least one post a month and then the next thing I know months have gone by. Things are going well here. The boys are great. Holden is 8 1/2 months old and weighs about 18 lbs. He has been crawling for a month and a half now and he has just started walking using his walker. Here is a video





Carson is 3 and weighs 34 lbs. He is full of energy and loves to play. He just started a hockey clinic. Here is video of his first time on the ice.

My How Time Flies

It's been a while since my last update, and I have a lot to report on (I'm sure I'll miss some things).

I'll start with Holden...

He's 6 months old now, and really turning into a handful. He wants to move everywhere, but hasn't figured out crawling yet. Now that doesn't mean he can't get around; through a series of barrel rolls and scoots, he can navigate his way to pretty much anything. He enjoys sitting up and playing, as shown in the video below.



He has started on baby food, and really enjoys it.  He makes funny grunting noises while he eats, and not because he's in distress, it's because he's enjoying himself.



Carson continues his journey from toddler to boy.  He enjoys going to school twice a week and is always asking us to sign him up for soccer.  He still loves hockey and can't get enough Spider-Man.  His 3rd birthday was a Spider-Man party, including a Spider-Man cake.

Carson went to the dentist for the first time recently.  He was a bit apprehensive at first, but once things got going, everything was great.  He enjoyed holding the suction tube the best.  On his way out of the office, he got to pick a toy from a jar.  To the surprise of absolutely no one, he picked a spider.

Two things Carson enjoys are Kinect on the XBox and his Harley Davidson Power Wheel.  Here are videos of him enjoying both.





Carson loves his baby brother Holden, and Holden loves his big brother Carson.  They both light up when they see each other (Holden more than Carson).  Carson is the only one who can make Holden laugh and smile pretty much any time he wants.

As for the rest of us, Brittany turned the big 3-0 on the 5th of April.  We had a party at Triumph grill with our friends and had a great time.  Other than that, she continues to do the often thankless job of a stay-at-home mom.  It doesn't go unnoticed though, we all love her and are very thankful to have her in our lives.

As for me, I'm still plugging along.  I started a new position at Boeing in February, moving from Engineering to IT.  So far it's been great; I like the work and the people.  I will miss my old group though, they were a great group of people to work with.

As I said earlier, I'm sure I missed some stuff, but that's all for now.  I would like to post on a more frequent basis, so stay tuned and see if I actually do that.

Also, I started a garden in my yard and I'm documenting the progress.  You can follow along here

Margarita Chicken in the crock-pot

I made this the other day for the family and Carson really liked it. I got the recipe from another blog that I read. It was really good and super easy to make.

6-8 chicken breast
3-4 minced garlic cloves
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey
2 T soy sauce (I used the lower sodium one)
juice from one lime
zest from one lime
onion chopped
broccoli

* you can add whatever veggies you like

Mix soy sauce, mustard, honey, garlic, lime and lime zest in a bowl. Place the chicken (can be frozen) and onion in the crock-pot. Poor sauce over chicken and onion. Add broccoli to the crock-pot when there is about an hour left to cook (if you put it in in the beginning it gets to mushy). Cook on low for 7-8 hours. Serve with brown rice.

Next time I make this I am only going to use 4 chicken breast because it made a lot more than the 3 of us could eat. I hope you enjoy this.

Holden laughing at Carson

Tuscan White Bean Soup

I made this soup the other night and it was a big hit, even with my picky eater Carson. Another plus is that it was easy to make and only took about 35 minutes. So, I thought I would share the recipe.

Here is what you will need:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed with a press

1/2 small onion chopped

1 cup baby carrots chopped

2 cans cannellini beans or great Northern beans, rinsed and drained

1 carton 9 (32 oz) vegetable broth or chicken broth

2 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, crushed

1 package (6 oz) fresh baby spinach

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Parmesan cheese

In a 4-quart saucepan heat oil. Add garlic, onion and carrots and cook about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lightly mash half if the beans . Then add beans, broth and seasoning into the saucepan; heat to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 8 minutes stirring occasionally. Add spinach to saucepan, stirring until spinach wilts. Stir in pepper and salt if desired. Place soup in a bowl and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Makes about 6 cups.

I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we did.

Holden in his room 4 months old

Carson Swimming 2010

Carson was 2 years and 3 months old when I took this video. I can't wait to see how well he is swimming by the end of this summer.

Carson and Holden

First Day of School

Carson started school at the beginning of September. He is doing a Mother's Day Out program 2 days a week for 4 hours a day. He seems to really enjoy it, I know I do. It is nice to have some time during the day to run errands and not have to take Carson with me. I also think it is important that he has some social interaction with others when I'm not around. Here are some pictures from this first day.



Carson is doing very well, he is all boy. I call him the wild man. He loves to run and play outside on his play set. He also really likes movies. He loves Jurassic Park, Avatar, Return to Oz, and lots of Disney movies. He pays attention to them and understands them, it is amazing to me. He also knows how to count to 20, say his ABC's and recognizes shapes and colors. Carson also speaks very well and you can understand him, he has a large vocabulary. He acts excited about meeting his baby brother, only time will tell how that goes.

37 weeks and counting

I am now 37 weeks pregnant. Most of this pregnancy has been uneventfully until this past Monday. For two nights I was having a hard time sleeping because I was having numbness and pain in my right arm. Monday morning I called my OB's office and they wanted me to go to labor and delivery for monitoring. After spending over two hours being monitored and having some blood work done, it turns out I have carpal tunnel. It is common for pregnant women to get and typically goes away a few weeks after delivery. My OB also told me that it gets worse with each pregnancy, which is true. I had a mild case with Carson's pregnancy and this time I didn't even think it could be carpal tunnel because it was so painful. I thought I had a pinched nerve or something. I got a brace to sleep in and used it last night and it really helped.

This is a recent pregnancy picture

The baby is doing great, he moves around a lot and makes me very uncomfortable. I had a checkup Tuesday and was 1 1/2 cm dilated and 70% effaced. I have been measuring big so I had an ultrasound at 34 weeks. They estimated the baby was 5 lbs 12 oz, that has me a little nervous. Carson was 7lbs 13oz when he was born 2 weeks past his due date. This baby could be close to 9 lbs at his due date, so I will probably choose to be induced a few days after my due date if he doesn't come before then.

I was ready to post this blog once I added some pictures which I was planning on doing yesterday and then I got sick. I ended up going to Labor and Delivery early this morning because I was up all night sick. Turns out I have a stomach virus and I was badly dehydrated. They gave me 2 bags of iv fluid and some anti nausea medication. After being there for 4 hours I was able to go home. They want me to take it easy this weekend and try and get lots of rest and drink lots of fluids. I really hope the next time I have to go to Labor and Delivery it is when I am having the baby.

New House

Well, we have been in the new house for almost 3 months now. We have accomplished a lot, or I should probably say Dave has. Being pregnant I haven't been able to help out that much. Dave has repainted just about the whole house and has removed wall paper. I had the fun part of furniture and accessory shopping. This house is more than double the size of our other house so I had a lot of shopping to do and I enjoyed every minute of it. Now that we have gotten most of the inside completed all that is left is the landscaping. We are hoping to get started this weekend and hopefully finished before the baby comes, my due date is 3 weeks away. Here are some pictures of the house.

Dinning Room

Living Room

Family Room

Kitchen

Master BedroomMaster Bath

Carson's Room

Boy's Bathroom

Holden's Room

Basement

Basement Bedroom

Backyard

Whirlwind

It has been a while since my last post and that is because things have been crazy here. Here is what has been going on.

We have been working on getting our house ready to go on the market. Cleaning, organizing, painting and doing a bathroom remodel. http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8643-Charlton-Ln-Saint-Louis-MO-63123/2855677_zpid/

We listed the house on March 28th and had our first open house. It was a success, we got an offer that night and accepted the contract.

Now we are packing like crazy, we have to be out of our house by April 29th.

The weekend after our open house we went house hunting and found a house that we really love. We made an offer and after some back and forth counters and another offer we didn't get the house. After this we decided we would just build a house. We were going to meet with the builders and we got a phone call from our agent telling us that the contract on the house that we loved fell through and would we like to make another offer. We did and we got the house.

We close on June 11th so we will be living at our parents house until we can move in. I will post some pictures of the new house once we get in and settled. We are very excited about this next step in our lives.

11 weeks

I am now 11 weeks pregnant. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and I was able to hear the baby's heartbeat. That was the second time I was able to hear it; the first was at my 8 week ultrasound. My doctor, Dr. Rockamann, whom I love, said that my ultrasound looked great and that all of my bloodwork came back fine. Everything is going well. I can't believe that I am almost through my first trimester. This pregnancy seems to be going by so much faster than my first. I guess that is because I have a toddler to chase around.

I have heard that with a second pregnancy that you will start to show earlier; I never imagined that at 11 weeks I would already need to start wearing maternity clothes. I was 20 weeks with Carson and it was around 23 weeks before I was really showing. I took a picture yesterday and I think you can already tell. It makes me wonder how big I am going to get by the end of this pregnancy.


On May 11th I have an ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby. I am so excited and I can't wait! This pregnancy has been completely different for me than my pregnancy with Carson was. With Carson, pregnancy was easy for me, I was never sick, and I felt great the whole time. With this pregnancy, I have felt bad since the beginning. I am hoping this means that I am having a girl :). I am trying not to get my hopes up because Dave comes from a long line of boys; he has nine cousins and only one is a girl. However, when I ask Carson if he is going to have a baby brother or a baby sister, he always says sister. In only eight weeks we will find out!

Family Update

It has been a while since we have posted anything on our family blog so I wanted to update everyone on what is going on in our life. These pictures of Carson best describe it.



That's right, Carson is going to be a big brother. I am 8 1/2 weeks pregnant and my due date is October 5th. I have had one doctor's appointment and one ultrasound and the baby looks great. I haven't been feeling so great with this pregnancy, so maybe this time we will get our girl.

We are cramped in our house now with just the three of us, so we are going to be putting our house on the market in April. We will be very busy next month making some updates and getting our house ready to go on the market. I just hope we can sell our current home and move into a new one before the baby is born. We are currently looking in the Oakville area, that is where my dad and stepmom and Dave's parents live. We seem to spend all of our time in that area now that we have Carson, so it makes sense for us to move close to our parents.

Carson update:
Carson had his two year checkup today and he weighed 25lbs 10 oz (20%) and 35 inches (70%). Carson is speaking in sentences and the majority of the time we know what he is telling us. He really loves hockey; he will walk around the house saying honk, honk, honnnnk...let's go Blues! He also wants to watch games on television and play hockey on the XBox. I am wondering if he will be into baseball like this once it starts back up.

I am going to try really hard, and at the minimum do an update once a month; hopefully Dave will do a few as well. So follow our blog and get updates on what is going on in our world.