Thursday, December 22, 2011

Baking Day

Last Saturday, my Sister hosted our 3rd Annual Holiday Baking Day.



It was another huge success, and we all had a lot of fun!  I had a little helper for some of the recipes, and that always makes things interesting :)  Carson is very good at stirring, but gets out of control some most times.  It is usually a guarantee that you will find flour surrounding his area, and this time, it included the floor.  He also helped me place the cookies in the little muffin tin compartments.  After placing a few balls, he then took it up a notch.  I feel like all boys do this, right?!  He then started to throw the balls, and see if he could hit one of the compartments in the tin.  A few "thuds" of the cookie dough ball later, and he usually scored.  When my cookies dough was gone, and I was ready to put the tin in the oven, I figured out I had some re-constructing to do.  The little pistol had been eating some of the cookie dough, and they no longer looked like balls!

  


And, in between helping me bake, Carson and Natalie were with their lovely Babysitter.....Frannie!  She was in charge of the kiddos for the day.  Natalie is always content as ever, and Carson is just plain busy. 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
Check out all the amazing goodies that we made that day!  Everything was truly amazing.


 




 

Carson also found this dancing snowman to be rather entertaining.  He would turn it on and off about a hundred times, and then throw it on the floor.  He is a gentle little boy....most of the time :)



My Sister always does an amazing job hosting any sort of party.  We had an amazing lunch, and the boys joined us for supper.


It was a wonderful, and tiring day.  Now we have our plates of goodies to dish out to people.  The fun part of it all......sharing the love with others!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Our First Christmas Celebration

On Sunday, we had our first Christmas of the 2011 Season.  We went to my Uncle Wendall's house, where everyone gathered with my Grandparents, in celebration of another year.  Another year of celebrating the true reason of the Season.


There was way too many snacks, way too much food, and everyone was joyful.  We opened a few gifts, and I love to see the faces of everyone as the anticipation is upon them, as to see what is inside each present.  Carson got a few cute track outfits, a fun farm play mat, and a Melissa & Doug clock.  He took right to the clock, and played with it for a long time.  Each number has a shaped block, and he loves to match shapes.  It only took him a few times, and he really caught on quickly.  A few of the shapes are kind of tricky for him, but he really enjoys playing with it.  Now we need to figure out a way not lose any of the 12 numbered blocks.  :)



I really enjoyed that we had our first get together the week before Christmas.  It drags Christmas out, and I love that.  It also makes for a less hectic actual Christmas weekend, because we don't need any help with that.  But, that is the joy of the Holiday, and the fact that we have SO many family members within driving distance.  Which, I wouldn't trade for anything!  I love all the hustle/bustle of the busy Holiday, and all the chaos, tired babies, and full bellies it brings!




And, I don't think that a family get together would be complete with a game or two.  It always makes this more exciting!


What a wonderful time of year.  I can't believe it is nearing the end of another amazing year.  2012 is upon us, and I am so excited to see what the new year is going to bring to our family!

Tis the Season to be Jolly!  :)

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Bath Time

Bath time  has become a favorite time every night for our little Wee Lad.  We spend a lot of time in the bathroom, hovering over the tub while our little one plays, and plays, and plays some more.  He spends a good 45 minutes each night in the tub, just hanging out and playing.  It's actually really fun to watch him play, "swim" around on his belly, and read his bath time book.

Carl and I actually have to laugh to ourselves, as we use bath time as a bribe.  If Carson isn't listening, is in a whiny mood, or won't take off his hat and/or coat (after having it on for hours) all we have to do is mention bath time, and he is happy as can be.  He will strip down to absolutely nothing, in preparation to dive into the tub, in a matter of seconds.  When we say the word bath, Carson's face instantly lights up, and he responds with his adorable "shyeah!"  It is so cute and funny to hear him respond to this request.

Carson loves to play with his letters in the tub, along with line things up on the edge of the tub.  Like this cow, for instance.  It's his favorite, hands down. 





Carl and I couldn't stop laughing the other night after bath time, and before bed time.  We got Carson lathered up with lotion, and into his footie pajamas.  He was busy in the other room, and very quiet....which is always something to be concerned about.  After a couple minutes, he walked into the living room where Carl and I were, with a huge smile on his face.  He had unzipped his pajamas, and put my socks on!  I thought we were both going to pee our pants from laughing so hard.  He is so funny.  He was running around looking silly like this, as the legs of his pajamas were flowing behind him as he ran.  That was our entertainment for the night.  And, it doesn't get much better than that! :)


Happy Tuesday!  

Friday, December 9, 2011

It's a....

Tuesday, December 6th, was a big day in our books.  It was the day I had been waiting for since the end of September.  Carl and I had much anticipation for this day, as it was the day we were to find out if we were going to have another little boy on our hands, or a precious little girl.

And, the ultrasound showed we are going to have another little BOY!!!

Carl and I are both completely ecstatic about the news.  When the tech showed us that it was (DEF) a boy, we were both smiling from ear to ear.

We immediately started calling our family members after the appointment to deliver our exciting news.  We asked each one of them what they thought the sex would be, before we told them.  And, all THIRTEEN of them thought it was a girl!  Not a single person guessed boy.  I thought that was kind of funny! 

I didn't care about the sex either way, I truly didn't.  But, I said I would be completely content with another boy, as I have really enjoyed raising a boy.  Granted, I don't know what it's like to have a little girl, that will have to wait.  Carson will now have a little brother to become buddies with, and that makes me so happy.  Two little rough boys running around our house?  Consider me excited as can be!

Another little boy to love on, snuggle with, and spoil rotten.....April can't come soon enough!

I am so excited to dig out the bottles, burp rags, receiving blankets, sleepers, etc.  All the essentials that Baby Boy Brouwer will be needing in his first few days of life.  Before we know it, our house will be prepped to bring home our newest bundle of joy.

I always wish for the Winter months to go quickly, especially now that we have a little one, because bundling them up is just no fun.  But this Winter?  Goodness, it can't go fast enough!  Bring on Spring, and all that is baby for this family :)

It's amazing how much love we have for this little boy already.  Carl left for work last night, and he said good night to his little Wee Lad, kissed me good bye, and left saying "I love you, and our two little guys!"  It about made me cry.  "Our two little guys".....what an amazing thing.  To see the little baby kicking and moving on the monitor during the ultrasound is about enough to take your breath away.  He is our little miracle from above, and we thank the Good Lord for him every night.  We now say...."And we pray for baby brother" during our nightly prayers, instead of just saying baby.  And to hear Carson say "brother" is the cutest thing ever.  I think he will be such a good Big Brother to this little one!

19 Weeks, 3 Days

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Sunday

Carl and I were so excited when we were leaving the doors at church on Sunday.  Not because the service was over, but because our little Wee Lad took a big step in his little life.  Well, a big step in our eyes.  He made it through his FIRST FULL church service in the nursery!  This is a huge step, seriously.

After about 5-6 failed attempts of him making it no more than 10 minutes in the nursery, we were about ready to give up.  We were about ready to face the fact that we were always going to be those parents with their kids in church.  But, yesterday I thought we should continue to try.  Maybe, just maybe, this would be our lucky day.  And, sure enough, it was!

I dropped him off at the nursery, and I was handed the number 350.  I memorized that number, as I was certain it was to pop up on the screen, no later than the first song we were going to sing.  I about turned around to get him, when I heard him crying "My mommy, no buh-bye."  I was about in tears, but I figured I would be back in a few minutes to get him anyway, and this would be good for him.

After Carl and I walked into the service, our eyes were peeled to the screen.  We didn't take our eyes off of it, as we were focused on the top right hand corner.  That is wear the number 350 would be flashing soon, we were certain.  During the whole service, we were both focused on the screen.  We tried our best to focus on the sermon, but I was so worried, that it was hard.  I know it sounds silly, but if you know our little Wee Lad at all, you would understand this concern.

I am so excited, and thrilled that he made it through the whole service!  Carl and I fought over who would be the one to get him.  I won, as I said I had to be the "bad guy" and drop him off.....that I should most certainly be the "hero" and get to pick him up :)

Yesterday was a big day for our little one.  He probably has no idea what happened, or what is going on, but we do.  We now know he can make it through, so hopefully he continues this trend.  He didn't play at all while he was there, so hopefully he will loosen up a bit, and join in on the fun activities in the future.  He was held the entire hour, and he actually still had his coat and hat on when I picked him up.  But, that is not uncommon these days, for some reason.  We have to coax him into taking his coat and hat off at home sometimes too.  He napped with both things on the other day, because he wouldn't take them off.  Goofy boy! 

That is our latest exciting news.  Sounds pretty silly, huh?!  Ha.  For documentation reasons, remember :)

More exciting news to come!  Stay tuned.  This exciting news may sound a bit more legit to everyone else, opposed to our son making it through a church service in the nursery!  Ha.  :)

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

2 Years + 1 Month

Carson is another month old.  He is definitely a 2 year old, through and through, but we are embracing every stage of life this little one of ours is going through.

I am going to try and make a few mental notes here about our Wee Lad that I don't want to forget.  Good or bad, I want to remember the different stages we went through.

Carson now has all of his teeth.  Thank goodness!  I feel like we have been battling a whiny boy, soaking wet shirts, and this stage forever.  Now, I am just waiting for his molars to come through, to give him another round of pain.  Boo!

He is starting to talk more and more words each day.  Sometimes we can get him to repeat everything we want him to say, and other times he is a complete mute box.  I am not really worried about it, as I am sure soon enough he won't "stop talking."  But, he does have a language of his own, for some words.  A few that I want to make note of are:
    -Shower= Sha Sha
    -Diaper= Beu (Bee-You)  I have NO idea where this came from, or why he calls it that.  It obviously sounds nothing like the word diaper, but that is what he calls it.
    -Blanket= Kinky
He also says numerous other words that are really easy to understand: Mommy, Daddy, Grandpa, Juice, Baby, Shoes, Blue (everything is the color blue), Purple, Book, etc.

Carl and I have been struggling with Carson in the biting department for a while now, but I have good news in that area!  We don't have to constantly tell him "no biting" anymore!  I feel like that is one area that I wasn't really prepared for as a parent.  Well, I should say....I knew kids did it, but I didn't think they did it THAT much.  Or, as much as Carson did it.  But, I am hoping we are past that stage....and, I won't miss it one bit :) 

Carson has been spending a lot of time in time-out, and has been getting numerous spanking these days.  He has been throwing complete fits about every. little. thing lately, and that results in a time-out.  Whining (excessive) or crying because he doesn't get something he wants, means he is sent to his room, where his time out chair is located.  Carl and I started getting very serious about this about 2 week ago, and I feel like Carson is getting it.  He knows what comes next if he does any of these things.  He sometimes chooses to do it anyway, so he gets some "alone" time to himself as a result.  He doesn't get out of his time out chair when placed there, which is kind of shocking to me.  After a few minutes, one of us will go and get him, and talk with him about why he is sitting there, and then he seems to be fine.  Well, until the next trip to the chair :)
    We have also been struggling with bed time, as Carson has been spoiled for 2 years when it comes to this area.  We still rock him to bed every night, and wait until he is in a dead sleep, to transfer him to his bed.  Carl and I finally decided that we have waited way too long to put an end to this....but, it is so much easier said than done.  The other night, we decided to fight the battle, and we were going to fight it hard.  April, when the next baby is due to arrive, is going to come soon enough for us, and I don't want to be battling 2 little ones to go to bed every night.  We have come to the conclusion that we feel as if Carson is scared of the dark.  The other night when we decided to have him put himself to sleep for the first time (which was a long night, by the way!) he was very shook up, until we left his door open, which allowed some light to shine in his room.  So, I am hoping this little trick will help with him going to sleep on his own.  We have started our bedtime routine in his bed, and hoping we can lay him down, and walk out the door.  I may have to report/update on this topic later....but I am hoping it will be an excellent, and very successful report!

Ok, well after reporting on our "struggles" with Carson, which I like to write down to remember, because life isn't always peachy with a toddler....there are A LOT of good things happening in the Brouwer household!  Carl started 3rd shift on Sunday night, which means his hours have been switched to 11PM-7AM!!  Phew, that was an answered prayer on my part!  He used to leave the house at 4:30 in the afternoon, which means Carson and I never got to see him.  But now we get to see him until 10:00 at night, which is usually when we are all headed to bed anyway, so it works out great!  When we were sitting down for our first Monday night supper together in over a year, I just smiled.  I feel like the Lord must have heard my prayer for long enough, because this was perfect timing.  I really felt like I needed this change, right when it happened.  The only bad part about this shift switch is; we don't know how long it will last.  It could be 1 month, or 6.  I am hoping for the latter.

Carson is also starting to learn new things everyday, and I just love that part of raising an ever curious toddler.  He gets so excited about the little things, which makes me stop and think about these things as well.  To see the world through his eyes, is truly amazing.

Carson is not potty trained, and I refuse to get serious about it until at least after the Holidays.  He does show a lot of interest, which is good to see.  He likes to take his diaper off, A LOT, and ask to go potty.  As cute as it is, and as happy as I am about him showing interest.......the 15th time of him doing such task in about an hours time gets rather old :)  He gets on the toilet, for about 10 seconds (literally) will ask for a piece of toilet paper, throw it in, get off the toilet, and flush it and say "all done."  He has yet to go to the bathroom on the toilet, but I am sure that will come.  I am waiting for the time that he "accidentally" goes, and then we can all get super excited, dance around the house, and give out some cool treats!  We shall see if this all pans out like I would like. Ha.

Carson is still in size 18 month clothes, size 4 diaper, and size 5 shoe.  We put him up against his growth chart the other day, and he is getting taller!  Not by much, but he is growing little bits at a time.  He is still wearing some 12 months pants from last year, but a few of them are getting too short for him.  So, I can tell he is growing from just a few months ago, when they fit him perfectly! 

Carson has recently been interested in putting a diaper on his bear.  It is so cute, and funny to watch him do this.  He is actually getting really good at the task!  I think his favorite part is to pull the tabs away from the diaper, because he will do it numerous times during the diaper change.  It's so funny to watch him run to get his bear, and will hand it to me and say "beu", and then will run to get a diaper for the bear.  He will lay the diaper down on the floor, put the bear on top of the diaper, and then put each tab where they are supposed to go.  He actually does a really good job of getting it on securely...usually.  And then comes the real deal.  Any time we are around baby Natalie, he is very interested in changing her diaper (beu).  But, I have to hold back from laughing when he puts the diaper down on the floor, and then tries to pick her up, to move her on top of the diaper, like he does his bear.  Ha!  Poor girl has no idea what is going on. 

Carson is still as sweet as ever, and is our little cuddle bug.  He has been getting some great reports from daycare lately, which make me so happy.  Knowing that he is content and happy during the days, puts my mind at ease. 

I will say.....as much as I feel like this stage is a "hard" one, I am still in love with it.  I love to watch him grown, learn new things, show interest in helping us with things he was just too little to do, and have fun while doing it all.  We have so much fun with our little guy, and our hearts swell over how much we love him.   

Monday, November 28, 2011

A family of FOUR

I have been anxiously awaiting to post an entry with the title of "Family of FOUR" across the top.  And, here it is!

Carson is going to be a BIG BROTHER, and we are all so excited!  I don't think that Carson really gets the concept of being a big brother, but I am sure he will in the next few months.  We think he is going to be a great big brother. 

Carl and I are expecting another little bundle of joy in April :)  We are in our 19th week, and the actual due date is April 28th.

I feel like I have been slacking in every department in my life these days, including blogging, because of this pregnancy.  I have been really sick, literally, and have felt super crummy for the last 8-10 weeks or so.  Last week was the first week that I actually felt human, and I hope the trend continues!  I really hope that I am over that "hump" and I don't go back down that alley.

I will be honest when it comes to this topic, and I am not one of those people that enjoyed my first pregnancy.  But, I am going to try my best to embrace it all, and enjoy this little miracle that is growing inside of me, regardless of what the side effects may be.

I have a feeling (and am hoping) that this pregnancy will go fast.  It is almost December already, which is so crazy to even fathom.  I feel like the months of November and December fly by, and before we know it, it will be January!  And, a few short months later, we will be preparing for another little one to enter this world.

We are beyond excited for this next chapter in our lives!  We have so much to be thankful for, including a healthy growing little one.  We thank the Good Lord for this amazing blessing.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Barnyard Birthday Party

On Sunday, October 30th, we had a big Barnyard birthday party for our little 2 year old!  I still can't get over how I am saying we have a 2 year old.  Ok, I think I have said that enough already :)


The birthday party was so much fun.  We had a great turn out, fun games, good food, and a crowded house.  And that can only mean one thing.....there are a lot of people that love our little guy!

Carson got so many new toys, and we are now trying to find a new place for all of them.  And, I am pretty sure all of the toys require at least 2 batteries.  You know what that means, right?  NOISY toys.  Yay for noisy toys!  Haha. 



Carson was in a good mood for his party, which I was so happy about.  We had to wake him up from a nap, that we had to fight him to take in the first place.  I was so nervous he would be crabby from us waking him, but he wasn't at all, which was awesome!  He did really well with the big crowd, and played well with the little kids.  It was a wonderful day.


His birthday cake turned out so neat!  A lady in town made it for us, and I was so pleased with how it turned out.  It was super delicious, and a big hit with the party goers.  Win-win!  Carson doesn't really care for sweets, so he didn't have much cake, but he enjoyed blowing out the candles, and playing with toys that were on the cake.  



 

 

We also played some fun games, that everyone enjoyed.  The adults joined in for some fun rounds of barnyard bingo, and the kids enjoyed playing "pin the tail" game, but it was stick the chick on the paper.

 

 




 

All in all, I was so happy with how the party turned out.  Carson was happy, excited, and loved all of his gifts.  And, a happy little 2 year old= happy parents!  

 

I have to give a HUGE thank you to my Mom and Sister for pretty much planning the whole party.  Right down to the little details, they did it all.  They are amazing, that's for sure. 


I hope you had fun at your birthday party, Carson!  You are loved by so many people.  Happy 2nd Birthday, Wee Lad.