While the cats away, the mice will play

So this is what happens when you leave a two year old to their own devices while you try and check your email ...

He opened and licked at least 10 suckers and asked for "more" when I took them all away. This is just a glimpse into the silly thing Carter does now that I have my hands full. Fortunately I keep the knives and scissors under lock and key :)

Brotherly love

Quick post to upload a video of Carter holding Cole this morning. If it appears too dark on the screen, I apologize - it was dark in the house considering it was 6:00 in the morning. Carter now asks to "Take Him" - meaning, he wants to hold Cole. He also yells "Pacificer" as soon as Cole makes a peep. It's funny. He is adjusting quite well to having a little brother. Though he has been waking up in the middle of the night around 2ish the past three nights, I think it's all the changes - new room, new bed, new brother, etc. But other than that he is the greatest big brother we could ask for, and then some.

I apologize for any unreturned phone calls or emails. I find it hard to get 20 minutes of quiet time. I'm really making an effort to spend as much one-on-one time with Carter as possible. So when I do have some down time, I'm probably napping.

Finally Four

We are officially a family of four! Cole Aaron Shelton was born Tuesday, January 13th, at 9:52 in the morning. He weighed just an ounce and half more than Carter was, at 6 pounds 10.5 ounces and was a measly half inch shorter than Carter at 19.5 inches. I compare the two because I'm astonished at how small he is. I just didn't remember that. I guess I'm just used to carrying around a 28 pound, 3 foot tall 2 year old!!

I had a doctors appointment on Monday afternoon and everything was going quite well, but Cole had a sudden decel in his heart rate that raised a concern for my doctor. She thought he might be putting some pressure on his cord. So since I was just a couple days shy of my due date, she sent me over the hospital to be induced. I called Mom and she drove in with Matthew from Austin. It's funny how God works, as Matthew wasn't planning on being in town for the birth. But since he had flown in to be with Grandpa in the hospital, he was able to drive in with Mom to meet his newest nephew. SO - they came in to be with Carter while Brian stayed at the hospital with me. Just a reminder that the Lord always has a master plan.

The next morning I started having fast and furious contractions and quickly progressed - so much so Mom went racing to the hospital yet again, and had Matthew drop her off at the curb. The doctor did her rounds and came back to deliver Cole so that Mom could be there. I only pushed once and the little guy came out. What a great delivery!

Here is Brian smiling after watching Cole be born.

Here is the official weigh in.

Uncle Matt and Cole

Sissy drove in from Abilene so that she could help out as well. She and Mom did a great job seeing that Carter was taken care of while Brian and I were in the hospital. Here she is holding Cole while Carter meets his brother and gives him a kiss.

Here are "My Three Boys"

I begged my doctor to let me go home the next day, fortunately she obliged. One last photo from the hospital.

And here is Cole sleeping on Daddy's stomach - one of his favorite things to do, next to eating :)

I would upload pictures of myself, but unfortunately they are all while in a hospital gown in a hospital bed during labor. Um yeah, not gonna put those on the Internet. Hopefully I'll get some tomorrow after I take a shower. We'll see ...

Carter turns TWO!

Wow - that's hard to type. My little boy is two years old. While his birthday was Thursday, we threw a party yesterday with all his friends. He has been singing himself "Happy Birthday" for days now. And still today, he sees his toys and says "Presents - Happy Birthday To Me!" It's adorable. I was hoping to get it on video, but I everytime I try he just stares at the camera and says "Cheese." Well trained.

Considering I am 39 weeks pregnant, I did keep the party low key (well, low key on the "Tera Scale"). The kiddos made their own pizzas and wore aprons with their names on them. I meant to get a good group shot, but it's hard to get 7 two year olds, a five year old, a one year old and two infants to sit still.

Here is Carter blowing out the candles on his cake. I think I should have re-thunk the black and red icing! It was cute, but boy did it make a mess.

I tried to get a picture of the three of us, but Carter wouldn't look at the camera - though his friend Jacob did :)

On Thursday we went and had his pictures taken then had lunch with Brian. Afterwards we went to the park with his friend Awbrey and it was a gorgeous day. That evening Brian took us to Carter's favorite restaurant, Mission Burrito, so Carter could get his most favorite meal - TACOS! He had a really nice time. Here are a couple shots from his portrait session. As usual, I have tons of prints I can put in the mail to anyone who wants them.

I had a doctors appointment on Friday and everything is going really well. I'm due in 6 days and the doctor won't let me go past my due date. I'm going back tomorrow to see how things are progressing and then discuss inducing for the end of the week. I've done a ton of walking so hopefully this little boy will drop on his own before we have to evict him.

The nursery is all ready for the baby (yes, still unnamed). And Carter has officially moved into his big boy room, which he fondly calls (rather, yells) "NEW ROOM!" He's very proud of it and was excited to show all his friends yesterday. It isn't completely done, I'm waiting on some art work that a friend of a friend is painting. But here are some pictures. He's slept in there for naps and bedtime for a week now. PLUS - Brian has put him down the last two nights without any objection from Carter. What nice timing since #2 is just days away. We are still working on not letting him play in the crib; he loves to jump in there. I tell him he's a big boy now and that he'll break the crib for the baby. Seems to work most of the time. We are so proud of Carter's flexibility and adaptability; I was expecting a bigger battle and didn't get it. He's such a great kid.

While this has been such a celebratory week, it has also had some somber moments. Dad's dad was life flighted to the hospital on Wednesday evening after slipping into a coma. Mom and Dad left early Thursday morning and have been taking care of Grandma and spending lots of time at the hospital. Jerry and Lois are there as well and spent last night at the hospital with Grandpa. Please keep our entire family in your prayers. It doesn't appear Grandpa is going to make a recovery, but we pray that whatever God has in store for us, that we make peace with it and find solace in his master plan.

I'll update more on Grandpa and the upcoming arrival of "Baby Boy" as things progress.