Truly Thankful

Thanksgiving was special this year as we have a new family member to be very thankful for. Aunt Ann was able to come up and spend much of the long holiday weekend with us. She got in on Tuesday afternoon, and was a HUGE help with both Jude and Eli.

Since Eli didn't have school most of last week, I made sure to find some quality time to spend with him (and projects to keep him busy!) We used his cutie patootie thumbs to stamp out these adorable turkey place cards.

His thumbs got tired from all the stamping, but he was proud of them when they were finished.

And we managed to get two Thanksgiving meals again this year. Our first was on Thanksgiving Day out at my Aunt and Uncle's lake property. They served up a non-traditional, yet absolutely delicious seafood boil. It turned out to be a perfectly beautiful day and of course, there were lots of eager helpers willing to hold and cuddle sweet baby Jude.

Eli is always entertained with all there is to do out at the "farm." Give him some tractors both small and large along with giant sticks, and he's a happy boy. He had so much fun that he crashed moments into our 45 minute drive home.

Friday, we decided to do it up again, except this time with a more traditional spread. Some were busy in the kitchen, while others were busy with babes.

Everyone pitched in and we had a wonderful feast complete with Eli's crafty place settings. Aren't the napkin rings too cute? Eli was the artist on these as well. He sponge painted the fall colors on crumpled brown paper bags, and I helped cut out leaf shapes for him. He glued them onto cut paper towel rolls and VOILA! Napkin rings perfect for a Turkey Day dinner.

As usual, we missed the sissies far away, but we are thankful for that they were able to be together in the mountains of Colorado celebrating together. Luckily we will be together soon enough over the Christmas holiday.

So much to be truly thankful for this Thanksgiving....this day and everyday.

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

- 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

Big Brother Strikes

You know you have a big brother when....

...Mommy finds sticky notes stuck to your head. Ha ha ha!

Officially a Gang of Four

Introducing...

Jude Clement Carson

Though we went in without a name for our sweet boy, once we met him, we knew he deserved a strong and meaningful name. He is named after two wonderful women that he will never have the privilege of meeting: his grandmother, Judy Carson and his great-grandmother, Margaret Clement Snyder.

born Friday, November 12 at 1:40 pm

weighing in at 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long
the spitting image of his brother

Speaking of his brother, Eli is smitten with his baby brother and still calls him "Jellybean" more often than Jude.

We came home a week ago, and it feels like yesterday to me. Jude was super excited to go home, can you tell?

Our little Jude is a week and a half old, and we are blissfully happy that he has joined our family. He is doing what newborns do best: a lot of eating and sleeping mixed with some pooping, burping, and whimpering. His cry is too cute to be bothersome just yet. He's a sweet, sweet boy and we can't express how much love we feel for him already.

I have decided that a c-section robs you of some of your ability to fully appreciate and enjoy your first moments as a new family. Finally feeling a bit better and back on my feet.

Week two is going as smoothly as I think it can, and it is all I can do to try to enjoy and treasure each moment as he is already growing and changing so much everyday.

Eli is getting a crash course in what is OK and not OK to do with a newborn around. He's slowly adjusting, but he is adjusting. And did I mention that he loves Jude?

Found his thumb!
Jude desperately wants to suck his thumb, but we haven't been letting him. Maybe we'll give him a paci once he has developed good nursing habits. He's a sucker for sure!

Like everyone else in America, we are gearing up for Thanksgiving around here. Jude's Godmother, Aunt Ann, is arriving tomorrow evening.

Eli and I plan to tackle some Turkey Day crafts this week while Jude naps. Trying to keep the preschooler happy and busy during this week of no school. Day 1, flying solo.....so far so good!

Thank you, once again for all of your prayers for a safe delivery and healthy baby. We can't thank you enough. How quickly a new baby comes into your life and steals your heart.

In Less than 24 Hours.....

In less than 24 hours, I will be holding our new baby boy. Hard to believe that the BIG day has finally come. I made it! We, of course, are thrilled and excited. The house has been a buzz of activity all week in final prep for the big day.

I did the smartest thing I've ever done (with a little encouragement from some coworkers and friends)....I took my maternity leave starting last Friday. I have felt better this week than I have in the past 3 months. I didn't realize how much teaching was taking out of me!! Hard job...even part time! And I have gotten so much done. Nesting hit me hard this week. I guess when you have the time and energy, nesting happens. I was in denial about it until this week.

Things that have been accomplished:

• A very clean house...room by room (minus the office and garage which are currently housing our TO BE SOLD piles for a future garage sale and other assorted junk treasures. This includes closets, pantry, refrigerator, and several cabinets cleaned out. So refreshing to haul several trash bags to the garbage can and bags of clothes and what not to the SELL piles.
• Eli's new bedroom is practically finished. Not accessorized and the dresser is still not together due to two, yup 2!!, broken tops. Ugh. Hope the company can send us a good one on the 3rd try. Trying not to let it stress me out as there is nothing I can really do about it at this point. Eli's clothes are staying in his old furniture in the nursery and Jellybean's clothes are piled in a laundry basket for now. {picture coming!}
  
• Oh yeah, laundry. Washed and dried all the baby clothes, blankets, towels, etc along with all of our clothes. So much that we blew the thermostat in our dryer.
• Daddy fixed the dryer. Go Daddy!
• Eli transitioned to his new bedroom and has slept there most of this week. He is doing wonderfully in his new big boy bed and room.
• Cleaned and vacuumed the car, installed the infant car seat, and checked the tire pressure.
• Bags have been packed and repacked. I am sure I over-packed. Maybe I should repack it one more time.
• Cleaned and set up the cradle in our bedroom. It is the cradle that my sisters and I slept in as babies. Hoping Jellybean is a better sleeper than his brother, and that we will actually be able to use it this time around.
  

• Squeezed in one last pedicure. Ahhhh!

And I'm sure we did more, but that is what I can remember. I told you I was feeling better. Sooo many less contractions this week despite all that hard work. Maternity leave is a wonderful thing.

I have also tried to find some extra quality time to spend with Eli this week as it is his last one as an only child. I have found myself near tears tucking him in and singing to him each night. I have loved my only boy for almost 4 years. Our lives are going to change so much...and for the better, I know, but it is still an emotional time too. Eli and I have had several lunch dates this week, played Peter Pan a lot, snuggled, gone to the park, and even made it to the Veteran's Day Parade downtown today.

He is going to be such a fabulous big brother, I know it.

We have a couple family members coming in tonight, and we head in to the hospital around 10 tomorrow morning. Surgery (if all goes according to plan, and we don't get bumped) is scheduled for 12:30. Prayers are much appreciated. Still no name. We have a rough list but are confident that once he is here, we'll be able to decide on a perfect name for the little guy.

Time to relax and enjoy our final night as the "Carson Trio." Tomorrow afternoon we will be a "Gang of Four." Wow!

Crazy, Crazy Week

We have had a crazy week trying to prepare for Jellybean's arrival. We thought Monday night was the night and that we were headed to the hospital to meet the newest addition to the family. It turns out, I was in false labor and was glad we didn't rush to the hospital, only to be turned away and sent home. I was having contractions 5 minutes apart for 2 hours and decided that if this was really it, I wanted a shower. Once in the shower, the contractions stopped. An hour later...they were back and closer, but then stopped as suddenly as they started. And then there was the one that was so intense, it woke me up from a sound sleep at 1 in the morning. Of course, I couldn't go back to sleep after that. I kept waiting for more to follow. And they never did. Saw my doctor today, and he was not fazed in the slightest. So, that means, unless Jellybean gets antsy again, we are down to 8 more days. Next Friday is the BIG day.

I'm beginning to think the false labor was God's way of kicking my booty into gear to get ready for this baby since nesting never really hit. Or maybe that is what you call running around the last day or two, gathering last minute items, washing baby clothes, packing bags, finalizing plans, etc. Maybe I'm finally nesting. But only because I thought I had to. Oh well, we are pretty much set at this point.

In other news:

• We finally got the time to work in Eli's new bedroom. He was super excited to put the first paint on the walls. It has dried a lovely avocado green to coordinate with the new bedding. Daddy is hopefully going to finish putting the furniture together tonight, and I'll have pictures of Eli's "big boy bedroom" to share soon.

• It was Halloween weekend, so we, of course, managed to squeeze in some pumpkin carving after a long day of moving furniture, taping, painting, and football watching (yay, the Gators pulled out an OT win over UGA this weekend! about darn time. that 3 game losing streak was tough to endure, and our season is still not over.)

• And then there was Halloween night. We invited some friends over to go Trick-or-Treating in our neighborhood this year. Eli changed his mind about his costume 3 times during the month of October. He started out wanting to be Peter Pan (his favorite movie lately), and I quickly made arrangements to borrow that costume from a friend. Score! Too bad a week or two later, he wanted to be Superman. I put off buying the cheesy and pricey costume just in case he changed his mind. He didn't. As we headed to the store to bite the bullet and purchase the costume the week of Halloween, we found they didn't have one in his size anymore. While there, he saw some pirate accessories and changed his mind for the 3rd time. So, Pirate Eli (or Captain Pan as he sometimes liked to be called) and his buddies hit the streets to knock on doors and collect the treats. Eli loved it, and once we convinced him he didn't need to ride in the wagon, he RAN from house to house. It made my heart swell every time I heard him say, "Thank you and Happy Halloween!" That's my boy.
  

• Last but not least, I think Eli knows that a massive change is coming to the Carson household. He has been more emotional and even defiant at times. It has been a rough week or two around here. We are trying to keep our cool and be consistent. Easier said than done, for sure.

I think that is it. Definitely enough for one post. All I have left to say is:

Let the baby countdown begin!