Growing as a Parent

When I was pregnant with Carson I figured I would love the baby stage. Then once he hit 1 or 2 and so on I wasn't sure what I would think about it. Honestly, I thought I would hate it. And hates a strong word but I was scared to have a "toddler" or a "preschooler." The baby stage seemed so much more fun and cuddly and oh that baby smell. I loved it.



Yesterday Carson and I spent a few hours outside while Declan was sleeping and I realized that this stage in his life has been my favorite so far. Even better then the baby stage if you can imagine such things. His personality is flourishing, he can carry on a pretty good conversation, he's asking questions about everything, he's so curious, he's entertained by the simplest things and he makes me laugh all day with the things that come out of his mouth.



I look forward to teaching him and his brother all about life, about God, about serving and helping others, about being good people, etc. We get to teach them all this stuff. Why is this hitting me now? How exciting and yet how nerve racking. I often wonder how am I going to teach them. The teacher in me tells me I need a lesson plan, I need to know when and how to teach them about these things. I know I don't have all the answers and some days I panic and feel I need to research so I have the right answers when the time comes. But when will that time come?

Well yesterday it came when he asked me a few simple questions about God and about Jesus. They were simple, who is Jesus, where is He, etc. Of course I knew the answers and I tried to explain it in 3 year old terms but what if he didn't get it? I'm a worrier by nature, but I think I've come to the realization that I just need to go with the flow and pray that God helps us answer all their questions about life.

One thing I know.....God has truly blessed us!

Now for some random pictures from our week.

The boys got a new table last week and so since its pretty much still winter out its been sitting in our kitchen. And so they want to eat at it every meal. It's pretty cute but the cracks in the table result in this....

LOTS of food on the floor.

Carson has decided that he NEEDS to go "shishing" (fishing). He carried this tackle box for HOURS yesterday waiting for daddy to come home and take him to the river.

We put up our bird feeder yesterday and Carson anxiously waited for birds to come have some food. We woke up this morning and found our first patron.

I finally got around to taking the wallpaper off the top of our cabinets last week. In my efforts I discovered that the previous owners had actually put up particle board and wallpapered that. SO, we tore down the particle board and I now have this nice look to my cabinets. It's beautiful, I know. Ha! Not really sure what I am going to do up there but I'm headed to Home Depot tonight to check out my options.

Have you been to Jesus' bathroom?

Yesterday at church Carson let me (and the people around us) know that he had to go potty. So we rushed out of the church and found the nearest bathroom. As I walked in I made a comment about what a silly bathroom it was. It was laid out a little different. So we picked our stall and I stepped into undo his pants. While I was doing this Carson said to me.....

"Mama, Jesus has a silly bathroom."

I guess He does!


Carson had his 3 year checuk-up this morning.

39 inches tall
36 lbs
He's still hitting the charts at over 75% for both.

You know its been a long day when......

We were in Menards tonight doing some browsing. Declan was being his usual crabby self so Trevor put him on his shoulders. He wanted his plug that was in the cart so I grabbed it for him. I turned around and placed it in his mouth, when he resisted I pushed a little harder and then turned around to walk down the aisle. Two seconds later Trevor is saying my name so I turn around and notice I had just shoved the plug into Trevor's mouth.

I meant to put it there, really, I did. ;-)

A Big Tummy

It's snowing. Less then 48 hours ago I was out doing yard work with the boys in their shorts. This spring sucks! Can you tell I'm crabby? My parents are driving home today and the roads are horrible. Can this really be happening on April 25^th? Grrrrr!

Declan went to the doctor this morning for his 18 month checkup. We've been having a problem with his poop (Wow, my kids are going to die when they are older and realize how much I talked about their bowel movements.) Anyway, most of this may stem from the fact that he doesn't eat much. He pooped last week Thursday and didn't start trying until Monday. He was unsuccessful both Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday after nearly a week of not pooping he let loose. Good news for us...my parents were in town. Declan proceeded to poop in the bathtub both nights for them. He's never done that and I'm so glad I wasn't here to clean it up. MMMUUUUWWWAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! ;-) Thanks Mom and Dad!

Needless to say the doctor is recommending more juice for the little guy. Any kind just as long as he will drink it. If that doesn't work then we may go on a prescription laxative for him.

Here are his stats

32 inches tall

25 lbs 6 oz

20 inch head

When we got home I was in the boys' room trying to find Carson's baby book so I could compare the two. However, I don't have stats for Carson at 18 months. I know he went to the doctor. The fact that we were moving and having a baby all in the same month (er, week) he was 18 months may have something to do with the fact that I didn't write them down. But in my best guess he must have been around 34 inches tall and 29 lbs with a 20 inch head.

Carson started looking through his baby book and I was pointing out all the pictures of him as a baby. Usually he insists that its Declan because he doesn't quite realize that he hasn't always been a big boy and that yes, he was Declan's age once too. One of the first pictures in the book is a lovely picture of me about 14 months pregnant, I was that huge. I told Carson he was in my big tummy. I got up to leave the room and when I came back this is what I found.

What a tender moment between two brothers. It's hard to believe Carson is already 3 and when I see things like this it really makes me see just how old he is. And how frank he is that its not mom but its mom's big belly. Yes, its big, it takes up most of the picture!

I was brought back from my tender moment by the shouting and screaming of two boys fighting over a baby book.

Such is life.

Flying a Kite

On Sunday Trevor took the boys out to fly kites while I was at work. Here's how the afternoon went....

First a kite flying lesson from daddy.

Declan doesn't like to be told what to do or how to do it so he wasn't a fan of the lesson, hence "the look."

Look daddy its in the air!

I'm a kite flying pro!

I don't even have to watch what I am doing.

Oh no, maybe I do.
Yay, its back up again!

Now its up for good. Good thing there cheap and we have more!


The kite flying pro in action.

Meet Charlie, well that's what we've decided to call him. His our neighbors cat and he's pretty friendly. He usually makes a daily visit when the boys are outside and they love him. He doesn't run and hide from them like our kitties. So the boys get lots of chances to give him pets.

And boy does he love their pets.

They pretty much follow him around until he decides to go back home. Someday we'll figure out his real name but for now Charlie is pretty fun.

Everyone needs to take a rest after a heavy day of activity. And why not do that with the snowblower when its 70 degrees out!

A Sanbox, a wheelbarrow ride, the zoo and some awesome weather

Check out this! And it only took a week to get it built. By our standards that's pretty much moving at the speed of light.

Its gorgeous out today! Although from these pictures of Carson you would think its freezing. He insisted on wearing his hat and coat most of the morning. Trevor and I bought some food to grill tonight and I made strawberry shortcake. Can't wait for dinner!

Yesterday we went to the zoo and got our membership. It was a bit chilly but the boys had a blast. Surprisingly they BOTH wanted to feed the goats.

Carson refuses to look at the camera.

Declan refuses to smile at the camera.

Feeding the goats.

Declan just left his on the fence the first few times. He was too scared to hold out his hand.

Checking out the chickens.

Carson's been in a, I-don't-want-to-do-it-unless-Declan-does mood lately. So yesterday when we went to feed the goats I figured neither of them would do it. The goats jump up on the fence so it can be pretty scary for little guys. I about fell over when Carson jumped at the chance FIRST and Declan wasn't far behind him. Here is a video.

Spring Is Here!

Yesterday it hit 75 here. Now, the wind was going at a pretty good clip of 40 to 50 mph, but it was still awesome out. We went for a bike ride, stopped and played at a park and came home to blow some bubbles. Here are just a few of the pictures I took.

Grandma and Grandpa Cameraon bought Carson a sandbox for his birthday. Actually they bought the supplies and now Trevor needs to build it. So this means I have 2,200 lbs of sand sitting on my driveway. The boys have discovered that they really don't need a box. They would be content with a sandbox on the driveway.

The wind did a number on Declan's hair. I think it may be time for a trim. I almost need some detangler spray after baths on it, it's that long.

Declan's version of blowing bubbles. And no he didn't get a look of disgust on his face after he clearly ate more then he blew.

And you'll notice in these next few shots that blowing bubbles takes a great amount of concentration. Especially when your just pushing a button to get the bubbles. Such a thinker.

Then Declan made a mess of the bubbles but that didn't stop him from just sitting in them. It's funny, Declan could care less if he gets dirty but if Carson gets a speck of anything on him he loses his mind.

No need to waste these perfectly good bubbles on the ground. He's JUST like his dad.

Happy 3rd Birthday Carson

It's hard to believe that 3 years ago today we became parents. Trevor and I have been reminiscing the last couple of days of what it was like 3 years ago our eagerness to meet our first born, the excitement of finding out the sex, trying to change diapers for the first time (that was Trevor, not me), watching 4 VERY excited people become grandparents for the first time and loving him like nothing else from the moment he was born. What a blessing he has been and oh how he has changed our lives.

The funniest memory I have from those first few days in the hospital was watching Trevor change a diaper for the first time. It was just hours after he was born and it was just the 3 of us in the room. Trevor opened the diaper and Carson immediately peed on him. Then as he cleaned that up and got a new diaper and out came the black tar poop. Baptism by fire I guess.


Carson has decided that he is actually five today. His preschool teacher asked him how old he was and he promptly raised all five fingers and said, "This many." We stopped at the video store today so I could rent Juno, great movie if you haven't seen it. While we were there I decided to try and find a kids video game for Carson. He quickly picked out Cars. We came home and played it and I think its safe to say he may be addicted. I should have taken a picture and I'll try to later but he prefers to hold the controller upside down.

Here are some pictures from our birthday extravaganza this weekend.