Monday, January 30, 2012

32 Weeks

I am 32 weeks today and as of tomorrow we have just seven weeks left until our Mady girl is in our arms. I don't have a new picture yet to post but will do that this week! But I did want to write down a few things about how my pregnancy is going.

My last appointment was almost three weeks ago (we have another one tomorrow). I had actually lost two pounds at my last appointment which puts my total weight gain at 9.5 pounds so far. I am super thrilled with that! Although I really shouldn't be losing weight at this point in pregnancy so I was told to keep eating.

At my last appointment my blood pressure was still great but about four days ago that started to change. I haven't been feeling well at all when I am on my feet too much. My legs get really weak and tingly and I just feel like I can't stand up anymore. I had Jay start checking my blood pressure and it was way too high. For a couple days it was like 124 over 90. It's that 90 that is way too high. Well, then last night it was 132 over 96 which is really out of control. When I was pregnant with Carter the day that I got put in the hospital over night my blood pressure was 150 over 99. 96 is basically the same thing as 99 in that they will treat me the same way because it is way too high. So tomorrow we will see what my doctor says. I am assuming full bed rest is in my very near future. I have already put myself on moderate bedrest and am trying to lay down a ton throughout the day. I wish it wasn't happening already but I am thankful I made it this far. Only seven more weeks to go! I can make it!

We are finally working on her room. We have the crib all ready with her new bedding and we have started painting. We have one wall painted pink and then this week we will be painting the other three walls a light tan. I am loving it so far and so thankful for Jay for doing most of the work!

I think we will be doing maternity pictures very soon and I am super excited to have some done of us and my belly.

I'll post a picture soon and update tomorrow after I go to the doctor.

23 Months

This is my final monthly blog post. Next month will be his two year post and then I am done posting monthly blog posts. CRAZY! Well, I shouldn't say I am done because I will be starting monthly blog posts for Madelynn and of course I will still write tons about Carter but just not in formal monthly posts anymore.

I know I keep saying this but I can't believe Carter is almost 2. Like in 3 weeks...holy cow! I have been working on the plans for his birthday party and am super excited to celebrate him and his amazing two years of life. We are doing a fish theme this year so I am searching for everything fishy. It's been fun :)

Carter has changed a lot in the last month and a lot has changed for him. He is still such a bright and shining star in our lives and makes us go crazy with pride every single day. I am amazed every single day what he is learning and how much he loves life.

So my Carter man...
Here is what you have been up to in the last month...

We moved you into your new room in your new big boy bed and I will be honest and say that it was NOT a smooth transition! I didn't know you could be so stinkin' stubbord and determined to fight a battle with your mama and daddy. We learned a lot about ourselves as parents through that trial and a lot about what works for you when you are being naughty. Yes, you were being naughty! :) But as much as it drove me crazy, I still LOVE your determiation and strong willed spirit. I just pray that you will use it to glorify God as you grow older! I would say we are mostly out of the most difficult part of your bedtime routine and we seem to be into a pretty good routine. The first few days of naptime in your new bed went really well! I thought we were going to be super lucky parents and be spoiled with a smooth transition. I think you were just in there laughing at us...Then we decided to add in nighttime and that is when everything fell apart. You wouldn't stay in your bed for anything! It was two to three hours every night to get you to finally fall asleep and often it meant daddy had to lay with you until you fell asleep. Nap time was just as bad and would often take up to two hours to get you to finally fall asleep. We tried everything! I finally was at my end and not sure what to do so I asked other moms for advice! The advice that hit me the hardest was "cool, calm, and consistent." I realized that I was getting impatient, frustrated, and short with you and I am sure you were feeding off of that! So we changed a few things. So here is our new routine...Daddy reads a few stories to you in bed, I come in and we all pray together, then daddy leaves and I lay with you and sing some songs. After singing I remind you that you must stay in bed, tell you I love you, walk out, close the door and then I sit right outside your door and everytime I hear you move I open the door and put you right back in your bed. We did this for about a week and now you are doing great! You still get up a couple times every once in a while but you are doing sooooo much better! Now the longest it takes you to fall asleep is 15-30 minutes and you only try and get out of bed once or twice, sometimes not at all. We are so proud of you and ourselves for sticking with it and making it work! By the time Madelynn is here you will have it down perfectly.

You have started talking like crazy. Some new words include blast off, snow, high, up, go, milk, wall, purse, Josh, whale, and so many more! You try to copy almost everything we say and get so excited when we scream and jump up and down because you said a new word!

You love your saying Mady and giving zerberts to my tummy. Every time you go in her room you say Mady over and over while pointing to everything. You are realizing that everything in there is now for Mady.

You still have your very stubborn moments but you seem to be mellowing out a bit over the last few weeks. I am almost wondering if you were teething for a while because it seemed like you were extra cranky for a couple of weeks. You seem to be much more content lately.

You LOVE LOVE LOVE reading books. Oh my goodness you could look at books for hours and not get bored. Most of the time I love it but sometimes I need to get something done and all you want to do is read books. But, I will keep reading to you because it is such a powerful tool for you! I hope your love of books and reading lasts a life time! And if so, you did not get that from either of your parents. So it will be a miracle!

You are very smart and remember everything! If I tell you that you get to fly daddy's helicoptor after you go nigh night, I better have that helicoptor ready for you to fly when you wake up because you are reminding me as you walk out into the living room. You seriously remember everything! I have to be careful what I promise you!

You are sweet and spunky and we love you so much! Don't ever change who you are because you are just perfect! Of course, I don't mind if you obey all the time but I love who you are and your great personality! We love you Carter man!

Happy last month being a one year old!

Monday, January 23, 2012

2012 Week 3 Meal


This picture doesn't do this meal justice because it was really good! Again I got this recipe off of pinterest and so far I haven't made a Pinterest meal that we haven't liked. This is called Crispy Southwest Chicken Wrap and was delicious. The best part about it was that it made enough for our dinner that night, dinner the next night, and lunch for me the next day. Three meals out of one and it was a fairly easy meal to make. I highly recommend it! And I really did make this dinner during the third week of the year but I am a little behind in my blogging about it.

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

1 cup cooked rice, warm or room temp
1 cup cooked shredded chicken
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 green onion, finely sliced (white and green parts)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (I couldn't find this at Winco so I actually didn't use it and we still loved the flavor)
1/2 red or gree pepper, diced
juice of one lime (I forgot to buy a lime so I just used lime juice I had in the fridge)
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cups shredded cheese (I used a combo of monterey and sharp)
sour cream to your liking 6 flour tortillas

Mix the rice with the chili powder, cumin, and garlic salt. Add remaining ingredients except for the cheese and sour cream. Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2 inch border around edges, then arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla and add a little sour cream down the center of each. Roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open. Spray tortillas all over with cooking spray. (I just sprayed the pan, placed it seam side down and and then sprayed the top.) Heat large skillet over medium heat for a minute and then arrange two wraps, seam side down and cook until golden brown and crisp (about 2-3 minutes each side.)

Try them! They were delicious!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Fireman Rain Coat, Carousel, and Puddle Jumping...

We bought this rain coat and boots before Carter was born and they finally fit him. He looked adorable and he also loved wearing them. He was so proud of himself. We decided to take him down to River Front Park to look at the Willamette River and all the flooding and then ride the carousel. I enjoyed playing with my camera and trying different settings. Carter was a great model until his complete meltdown at the park...

He loved showing off his new rain coat for the camera. He was so happy wearing this!


I LOVE his eyes!!!!

So we had a really bad day with nap time. In my last post I was bragging about how well he was doing...
He decided to revert back to testing us again. So I tried to get him to nap for almost two hours ending in total failure. We gave up, got him dressed, and hopped in the car. Within two minutes he was asleep. Of course.

Walking to the carousel. He was so excited when he saw the horses. This is his favorite thing to do in the whole world.

Watching the horses while daddy bought our tokens.



And now he is in his happy place...

Jay was reaching for the rings on the fish to win a free ride and every time he grabbed a ring, Carter broke out in hysterical laughter. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I have never seen him laugh so much and so hard!









Laughing at daddy again and again...






And we did a little puddle jumping which was a highlight for Carter.

















When it was time to leave Carter threw the biggest temper tantrum of his life so far. In fact, it was his very first public tantrum. Jay and I were basically dragging him across the park to the car kicking and screaming. It was crazy. It honestly looked like we didn't have any control of our child, which is typically not the case one bit. That is what happens when he doesn't take a nap. Lesson learned. Don't go out and do something in public if he doesn't take his nap. We really did have some nice family time at the park though and had beautiful weather! It was also crazy seeing how high the river was and that it was completely flooded on the West Salem side. I have pictures coming soon!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

And He's Back...

My excellent sleeper is back!!! Woohoo!!! Carter has had two perfect naps in a row and two perfect night times in a row in his big boy bed!! Thank you Jesus! I don't know what happened. I don't know how we went from two hours of getting out of his bed and being so incredibly naughty to just laying down, actually saying nigh night to me, never getting out of his bed, and falling right to sleep.

I am so proud of him! I was honestly getting nervous that this was going to be the battle of our lives with raising Carter. I had never seen so much stubborn determination and pure disobedience in his little short life.

But apparently he just needed a few days to test his boundaries with us and decided it just wasn't worth it. I am thankful that Jay and I were in this together and held strong (with a few tears from me of course...okay maybe meltdowns would be a better word than tears) but we did it and didn't give in to him. And it worked!

Now watch...nap today will be awful now that I have just written this for everyone to see. :) Oh I hope not!

Good job Carter man! We are proud of you!

Sunday, January 15, 2012