One Month Today

Cole is one month today and I'm surprised to say that he is 8 1/2 pounds! He's growing so fast, though it's funny that some of my friends baby's were never even this small. He is starting to have many more awake and alert moments and isn't sleeping all day long. Though he is still sleeping quite a bit. Of course those sleeping times are still in 3 hours blocks :)

Here he is earlier today. I love yawning pictures.

Carter is in Austin this weekend visiting Grandmama with Grandma and Grandpa. That gives Brian and I a weekend alone with Cole. This is actually the first time we've left Carter for more than one night and the first time for him to take a trip without us. But he's in good hands and probably won't even miss us! So while Brian takes his renewal class for his handgun license tomorrow, I'm going to treat Cole as a piece of luggage and carry him around town while I shop for a new pair of tennis shoes and a few other random things I can't do with 2 kids! Then tomorrow night Brian and I are going to smuggle Cole into the movie theatre. I figure he'll sleep the whole time in my sling and if he gets hungry, I'll feed him and then he'll go back to sleep. We'll see how it works!

Carter's language is developing alot lately. He's putting together 4 and 5 words now, and making sentences. It's amazing how one day it just clicks for them.

Off to relax on the couch since I don't have to feed, bathe and put Carter to bed tonight!

Finally, I'm getting time to post!

My how fast time flies. Cole is 4 weeks old today! And it's been two weeks since I posted ... yikes! So let me catch you up on the past two weeks.

The boys had there well child check ups recently. Cole was 2 weeks and had gained 15 ounces in the 15 days after being discharged from the hospital. He was 7 pounds 5 ounces (if you recall, he was 6 lb 10.5 oz at birth and 6 lb 6 oz at discharge the next day). The doctor was very pleased at his weight gain. He also officially "grew" 1 1/4 inches and is up to 20.75" long. But I'm pretty sure he didn't grow that much in two weeks, I'm thinking it was just a real good job of stretching him out by the nurse :) Carter is 36 1/8 inches tall and 28 pounds 14 ounces. He is in the 85 percentile for height and 65 percent for weight, so he's on the tall side and about average for weight.



Matthew and Allison came in for a couple days and played with their nephews. They have been on the go. I think I heard Matthew say he has spent 6 nights in Denver during the month of January. Among several trips (work and pleasure) he and Alli went to Hawaii for a week. His company rewarded his sales department for hitting their 2008 goals. Plus Matthew was named Salesman of the Year at his office and Allison was the top fundraiser in Colorado. Man aren't they the "Power Couple." Here's a picture of them and a picture of Matthew with and his co-workers with Kirk Herbstreit who was staying at their hotel.

**pictures coming, my computer doesn't seem to like Hawaii ...**



Cole had his first bath last week. His umbilical cord came off right after his bath, it was hanging on by a thread. Carter enjoyed helping bathe his baby brother. Here are some during and after photos.



And lastly here are a couple random pictures of Cole and Carter.

Big yawn!!!!


Carter playing with Cole, but little does he realize Cole is sleeping.



Upclose and sweet.

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.

Gingerbread House

With all the commotion surrounding Christmas, we didn't make our gingerbread train that Mom picked up. So last night she and Dad came over and let Carter decorate a gingerbread train. Here's the outcome ...

Merry Christmas

We would like to wish all our family and friends a very Merry Christmas! Ours was wonderful to say the least. It started off a little rocky, Carter woke up with a 102.3 temperature - check out our first photo.

A little Motrin and some great distraction by Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Matt and Aunt Alli, and Carter was ready to go. Here's a picture of his kitchen that Santa (Grandma and Grandpa) left out for him.

Here he is with his shopping cart and play food.

And here's a picture of him with his new mixer - he no longer will need to play with mine!

And to prove that he did get some manly toys as well, here's a video of him with his blower.

Earlier last week I caught Carter on camera counting. Yes he's messing with the Christmas lights but I really wanted to get him counting on camera. He can go from 1 to 10, but the video only captures the end. He didn't know I was watching and just repeats himself. As soon as I asked him to count, he ran off.

He's feeling better today and doesn't have a fever, thankfully. He and Daddy are flying Brian's new Air Hog remote control helicopter right now. I'll have to post some video of the two "kids" playing.

I'm 30 and not upset about it

Yep - it's official. I'm 30. And I'm not sure if it's the distraction of Christmas or the upcoming baby, but I'm not at all upset about turning 30. I think even without those I things I'd be happy about my new digits. I have so much to be thankful for and I'm grateful I've led a wonderful 30 years thus far.

Mom and Dad took us all out to Taste of Texas for dinner last night and surprised me with inviting Uncle Jerry and Aunt Lois as well as my cousin Scottie and his wife Kate ( who by the way is expecting a little boy in April!). Matthew and Allison were there as well. We had a fantastic time. Of course we all ate too much though and have a steak hangover today.

Here's a picture of the three of us in front of the Christmas tree this year. I don't have any good ones from dinner because my camera is having some issues. Fortunately Allison had her camera so I'm hoping for more pictures, we'll see.

Today we are going to relax I think and maybe make some chili and finish putting some bows on gifts and put a few Santa gifts together. Nothing too crazy, we'll save that for tomorrow!

I'm an aunt!

And Brian is an uncle! We couldn't be happier. Brian's brother Brendon and his girlfriend Stacy welcomed their little boy into the world on Thursday night. Brady Keith Shelton was 7 pounds 3 ounces and 20 inches long. We were sent a few pictures last night that appear to be from a camera phone, so they aren't high quality, but you get the idea. I'm not sure when Carter will get to see his cousin, but we'll get to planning that. Brian's parents are leaving Indiana tomorrow to get to Oklahoma and spend some time with the newly expanded family. I'm sure they'll send more pictures too.

Welcome to the Shelton Family, Brady! We can't wait to meet you!!

Christmas Playdate

Some of Carter's friends got together today for a Christmas playdate. They exchanged presents - Carter came home with a new book about animals and loves it. They attempted to make an arts & crafts project, but were more interested in "sharing" toys with each other.

Here is Carter with Bella. Man is that a fiesty smile or what. He loves to yell CHEESE at the camera now.

Here is the group shot. I took 55 pictures of all the kids on the couch and couldn't come up with one where they are all smiling and/or looking at the camera. So in true mom style, I picked one where at least MY kid was smiling at the camera.

And lastly, here is Carter with Emma. Man did she have a firm hold of him. He seems to be quite the ladies man :)

Let it snow

Yep - Houston got snow last week. It snowed for several hours, but only stuck for a couple hours afterwards. Here are a couple pictures of when it just started snowing, around 3:30. I was thoughtful enough to get the video camera out - BUT, apparently forgot to actually hit the record button until 5 minutes later. By then, the wet cold air was overshadowing the newness of snow for Carter. So pictures will have to do, you'll probably need to click on them to enlarge the photo and actually see the snowflakes ...

On Sunday, my girlfriends threw me a great baby shower. Though, I'd rather call it a "Baby Celebration." We sat around Joanna's large table and drank mimosas (well, I had OJ), chit chatted, decorated cookies and painted ornaments. It was such a wonderful time. I got lots of great things for our upcoming arrival, including TONS of diapers.

Today Carter visited Santa at the mall and enjoyed himself. He told Santa he wanted a sucker for Christmas - they were in a bowl next to him. Good thing he didn't see the corvette parked in the mall at the time. This was a marked improvement from last years visit. Check out the then and now pictures ...

I'm almost done Christmas shopping. Not too much to buy this year - which is nice and strange at the same time. Now I just need to make the dreaded trip to the post office to mail off a couple gifts. I did drop the Christmas cards in the mail though, so that is finally off my chest. With Thanksgiving so late this year, it was one less week of Christmas preperation. I can tell I'm not the only though - this time last year I had at least 20 Christmas cards hanging on my pantry door. Today I have two. Well, three - I put ours up there!

Oh, my doctors appointment on Monday went well. The baby is head down, but still sitting pretty high. So fortunately, baby boy won't be arriving before the New Year. I go back the Monday after Christmas. While I'd like the tax deduction for the year, he'd be a little small still. Hopefully we can make it until after Carter's birthday on Jan 8th. Ooh, I need to get planning that.

Emma's Birthday Party

One of Carter's girlfriends had her second birthday party today. The kiddos decorated Christmas cookies, though they seemed to enjoy putting the candy in their mouths instead of on the cookie. But who are we to tell them what's more fun, right!

Here's the birthday girl enjoying her yummy cupcake.

And Carter is being cleaned up by Emma and Awbrey. They thought the frosting on his shirt was a bit much. He enjoyed the attention.