Thanksgiving with the Morgan's

The weekend before the real Thanksgiving, my family came down to Nederland to celebrate. My parents, my brother, his girlfriend Erin, and our little family of three were all in attendance. Everyone got in Friday night and were treated to Andrew's famous gumbo.

Carson was happy to see his Uncle Dave


Our Little Turkey...







Saturday morning Andrew and my brother went duck hunting and had little luck. (Thankfully, Sunday was much better.) I cooked a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns. You can't go wrong with that. After breakfast, Mom and I got to cooking (see previous post, "We Did It!!!"). After a 3:00ish meal, Mom and I went to the mall so she could pick out some boots for her birthday. The A&M-Nebraska game was on the menu for Saturday night. In case you missed it, we BTHO Nebraska!!! Amazing game!!! The fans stormed the field, which is usually a big no-no, but after the Ags long dry spell, it was well deserved!!! I had goosebumps!!!

Some Saturday pics...

My Blue-eyed Baby!










Turkey Butt!




BTHO Nebraska!!!






For some stupid reason, we decided to not have the family photo session on Saturday. Andrew had to work Sunday morning and it turned out that two groups got stuck out in the marsh because they ignored the signs warning not to enter a certain area. Therefore, he didn't get home until late afternoon and my family had to get on the road before that. BOO!










We had a great time!!! I love my family!!!

We Did It!!!...

...cook a whole Thanksgiving meal by ourselves, that is! It is no secret that I am not a chef. Growing up, my mom wasn't the really a chef either (sorry Mom). We ate lots of spaghetti, mac & cheese, and Hamburger Helper. I guess you make what your kids will eat! Now that she's not chasing two kids around, she has started experimenting and enjoying the art of cooking. We didn't get creative for Thanksgiving (you have to stick to the classics), but we did do it all ourselves. Usually, we have either my grandmothers or aunts to help, but this year we were at my house, and therefore, on our own. Yes Meme, you would be proud! :-)

The Proof...












The final menu included:
-Turkey breast (we did opt to skip the big bird since there were only 6.5 of us)
-Venison ham
-Broccoli cheese casserole
-Cornbread dressing
-Green bean casserole
-Candied sweet potato casserole
-Mashed potatoes & gravy
-Rolls

Carson totally loved the mashed potatoes. Yes, I gave him "solids" already... it was Thanksgiving. :-) He opened his mouth right up when my mom held up the spoon. We have our 4 month appointment tomorrow, so I'm waiting to see what the doctor says about starting all that. He liked the sweet potatoes too! :-)



More Thanksgiving with the Morgan's in the next post...

Make Ya Smile Mondays...Tuesday Style (again)

I should probably just switch my posts to Tuesday since I usually don't get them up until then anyways. I just don't have a cute name for Tuesdays, and since Mondays usually aren't that great, I really wanted to do the post then. I just need to get my act together. :-)

Check out this ridiculously cute cowboy outfit we got for Carson in La Grange over Thanksgiving. I couldn't resist, Carson needed his first pearl snap shirt. The girls' version included "Yellow Rose of Texas" jeans. Since Emily Morgan was the Yellow Rose of Texas, you better believe I would have bought them if we had a little girl! They did have some precious jeans with fringe, but since I just bought jeans for him at Marshalls, I passed.

Big Giggles!

Carson had the hiccups and so I started dramatically fake hiccuping, and he just found it hilarious. I wanted to catch it on video, so here is my dad doing the same thing. He's not laughing quite as much as he was when I first started doing it, but you get the idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1UOmglKVs0

Flashback...

Here's a video from Carson was 7 weeks old (he's almost 18 weeks now), and I had just caught a few of his first smiles on camera. His best smile is at about the 1:00 mark if you don't want to watch the whole thing. He looks SO much different in this video. It really makes me realize how much he's changed in such a short amount of time. We were just begging for even a 1/2 smile then... now he smiles ALL THE TIME!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCknKZz_mSI

Make Ya Smile Mondays - Lovin' on my Uncle Dave

Probably one of the cutest pictures ever...

A Year Ago Today...

A year ago today we found out that our lives would be forever changed. I took a pregnancy test while Andrew was at work and sure enough, there were two stripes. I took a second one, two stripes again. I had to wait 3-4 hours for Andrew to get home from work...which was SO hard because I was so excited! Shooter spilled the news to via a sign around his neck.

Then...


The sign...


Now...


Wow. A LOT can change in one year... all for the better, of course!!!

I received this in a newsletter e-mail I get from Baby Center. I thought it was too good and too sweet to share! Enjoy. (Sorry Kelsey, I'm copying you! I thought it was so cute too and totally appropriate for this post!)

What changes when you have a baby? A better question may be: What doesn't change? Here, writer and mom Rebecca Woolf lists her most notable post-baby observations. Then scroll down to read our favorite comments from readers about how their babies changed their lives.

1. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.

2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid. [See a reader's perspective in #22, below.]

3. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.

4. You respect your body ... finally.

5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way.

6. You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own.

7. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.

8. You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.

9. Your heart breaks much more easily.

10. You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day.

11. Every day is a surprise.

12. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)

13. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.

14. You become a morning person.

15. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.

And from our readers...

1. "You discover how much there is to say about one tooth." — Ashley's mom

2. "You finally realize that true joy doesn't come from material wealth." — Anonymous

3. "You now know where the sun comes from." — Charlotte

4. "You'd rather buy a plastic tricycle than those shoes that you've been dying to have." — Sophie's mom

5. "You realize that although sticky, lollipops have magical powers." — Roxanne

6. "You don't mind going to bed at 9 p.m. on Friday night." — Kellye

7. "Silence? What's that?" — Anonymous

8. "You realize that the 15 pounds you can't seem to get rid of are totally worth having." — Brenda

9. "You discover an inner strength you never thought you had." — Ronin and Brookie's mom

10. "You no longer rely on a clock — your baby now sets your schedule." — Thomas' mom

11. "You give parents with a screaming child an 'I-know-the-feeling' look instead of a 'Can't-they-shut-him-up?' one." — Jaidyn's mom

12. "Your dog — who used to be your 'baby' — becomes just a dog." — Kara
[Many readers begged to differ, saying things like, " I disagree with number 12. My dogs are my additional children," "Nothing about previous babies, whether two- or four-legged, changes when a new miracle comes along," "My dog will never be 'just a dog," and "This is sad to me. My dog is still my baby too."]

13. "You take the time for one more hug and kiss even if it means you'll be late." — Tracey

14. "You learn that taking a shower is a luxury." — Jayden's mom

15. "You realize that you can love a complete stranger." — Dezarae's mom

16. You find yourself wanting to make this world a better place. — Arizona

17. If you didn’t believe in love at first sight before, now you do! — Ciara

18. You start to appreciate Sesame Street for its intellectual contribution. — Anon.

19. You have to quit watching the news because you see every story from a mother's perspective and it breaks your heart. — Brooke&Boys

20. You just plain love life more - everything comes together and becomes better because of one tiny person and your love for them. — Anon.

21. You finally find out the real reason you have those breasts. — Anon.

22. In response to #2 [above], I'd say that where you were once afraid, you're now fearless. I was always very timid and shy and let myself get walked all over … but now where my kid's concerned, I'll speak my mind and really connect with my inner "b"! — gummismom

23. The support you get from other people surprises you, because the people giving it are not always the ones you'd expect. — japanese_macaque

24. Nothing is just yours any longer. You share EVERYTHING! — DylanLsMom

25. No matter what you've accomplished in life, you look at your child and think, "I've done a GREAT job!" — Anon.

26. You want to take better care of yourself for your child. — Treasor

27. You can have the most wonderful conversation using only vowel sounds like "ahhh" and "oooo." — littlehulk2008
(Taken from Baby Center.com )

Over It...

So Carson has apparently decided on his own that he no longer needs a pacifier. This is great because I won't have to go through the whole pacifier weaning process. This is bad because I don't have a quick fix calming method. I could really use one now too because I'm thinking the teething process has started. Either teething or some weird 4-month old funk. Carson's drool is RIDICULOUS and he is constantly knawing on his hands or something else. He has been way more fussy than normal too. He likes when I put a frozen toy in his mouth. It seems to feel really good.

How do I know if he's started teething? Anything I can do to make him feel better?

Switcheroo!!!

The other day I mentioned how much Carson has been moving around in his crib lately (see "Where's my Baby?!?"). We initially took the bumpers off (part of the whole SIDS-reduction movement), but I have a feeling they will be going back on very soon. I failed to mention that when I found him the other day, body parts were sticking through rails. Not good. Also, when I put him in the other way to look at his mobile (which he LOVES), he ends up using those legs to scoot backward putting his head right in to the rails. Well, last night I went in around 3:00am to feed him and he had done a complete 180! I questioned whether I had put him in the backwards and asked Andrew if he had gone in there. Nope, he did it on his own. I mean, he was perfectly parallel in the crib. He could have fooled me. Switcheroo!!!

Toes!!!

It's been quite a while now since Carson discovered his hands, so he's moved on to bigger and better things... TOES!!! He totally still loves his hands but now has another interest as well!

He's been pulling his lower halk up for a little while, and I guess he finally pulled it high enough to realize there was something down there that looked interesting.

I don't have a good 'real' picture yet, but the little man was showing off his new skills in his crib the other day.

Prune Juice...Yum

As I mentioned in my "Finally" post, the little man has had some regularity issues. He was only going approximately every three days, which is normal for a breast fed baby. However, he seemed very uncomfortable and when he did finally go, it was much thicker than usual. As all the baby books say, frequency doesn't define constipation, consistency does. So, Carson probably wasn't full blown constipated, but since it was obvious that he was uncomfortable, I went ahead and called the pediatrician on Tuesday. (This "irregularity" had been going on for about 2 weeks now.)

Since he's about to be 4 months, they went ahead and recommended either a little diluted prune or pear juice. They also mentioned some kind of OTC medicine, but I opted to stick with the natural solutions. No particular reason, just have always heard about prune juice for constipation.

So, Momma Bear headed to HEB for some prune juice and pear juice. I made the mistake of trying to give it to him right after he ate. I mixed 1 oz of juice with 1 oz of water in a bottle. He was full and the new taste was not something he was into. I tried a little pear juice instead, he seemed to like that taste a little better, but still didn't really drink it. So, I waited until his next feeding when he would be hungry. Sure enough, my little chunk scarfed the prune juice down.


Lo and behold, about an hour later... SUCCESS!!! A HUGE success!! He was so funny. He was standing up in my lap and it was pretty clear what he was concentrating so hard on.

They said I could do the juice thing twice a day, but I'm going to just do once for now and see if he starts becoming a little more regular again. On Wednesday around lunch time, I gave him his little prune juice cocktail. Yep, it works. Poop two days in a row = AWESOME!

(You know you're a mom when you have posts about poop... wouldn't have it any other way!)

Make Ya Smile Mondays

Being sweet in Baytown...












The Morgan Big Bottom Lip...


Before...


After...


When Andrew got home from his hunting trip, Carson was super excited to see him. He was playing and talking like crazy. We looked down and he was just chillin' on his side watching the Cowboy game. Rolling over to his side while playing was a first!


Turkey Butt!


Ready to work the blood drive at church! I was the life of the party in my turkey clothes and new shoes!