One Month Old

Carson turned one month old on January 20th. Wow, the time has sure flown! At one month:

• Weight: 8 pound 15 ounces (5 days later he weighted in at 9 pounds 9 ounces!)
• Length: 22 inches
• He enjoys sleeping but is starting to be awake for longer periods at a time. He currently is on an sleep, eat, play schedule. During the day we follow this routine about every 3-4 hours. He usually is awake for just over an hour and then he snoozes.
• At one month he was sleeping anywhere from 3-5 hours during the night. Usually he would sleep about 4-5 hours, eat, 3-4 hours, eat, and then sleep about 2-3 hours. He was recently diagnosed with reflux and he has been sleeping even longer and been putting himself to sleep since he has been medicated for his reflux. For a 3 day period we couldn't hardly get him to sleep lying flat. He would cry and cough and spit up and so we took him in and reflux it was.
  
• Big sister has been loving on her brother. She loves to hold him and put his paci in. She likes to copy whatever mommy is doing and do the same thing with her dolls. Her vocabulary grows daily and she seems to get stuck on a situation that happend and she will tell you about it OVER and OVER for a few days until she has a new favorite story. She LOVES singing and dancing these days. It amazes me that she will see or hear a song one time and the very next time she practically has it all memorized.

Jordan returned back to work this last Wednesday. We knew the time was coming, but we had a wonderful time at home for the last 5 weeks! We went to 3 different zoos and we just enjoyed doing things as a family. Carson slept through most of it, but we love introducing Laney into new things and seeing her learn. The days at home without Jordan are not too bad, but I am SO thankful that I had him here for the first 5 weeks. It really helped me get the hang of having two. I am absolutely in love with the life God has blessed me with and so thankful for every second we spend together as a family!

Staying Busy

We have been staying busy with two kids at home, but haven't done anything too special. We have enjoyed staying home and resting as much as possible. Last week we did have two different play dates come over and play with Laney. Laney had a great time and I was so proud of how she has been interacting with her peers. She shared with them so well (this hasn't always been this way) and it makes me so proud to see her becoming such a wonderful young lady. However, I am currently reading a book on toddler behavior, because WOW it can be dramatic. :)

Jordan had an overtime shift last week and left me home alone with both the kids for the first time. I was woken up to BOTH kids crying at the same time. This NEVER happens. Laney doesn't ever cry when she wakes up. So I sat in her bed with her and fed Carson at the same time. After he was fed and changed I sat him down and changed Laney. I realized she had a fever, which at the time was 100.8. The rest of the day was SUPER busy, but easier than I expected. By the end of the day Laney's fever got up to 102.7 while she was on a Tylenol/Motrin rotation and she was REALLY lethargic. She would not eat, drink, or do anything. She looked so sick, I could not believe how bad she looked. I was really stressed out trying to juggled both kids all day without spreading germs... I am pretty sure I sanitized my hands every 3 minutes. When Jordan finally arrived home from work he saw Laney and was shocked at how horrible she looked. As soon as I was able to give Carson his next feeding, Laney and I ran to Urgent Care which is about 2 minutes from our house. I was so worried something was seriously wrong with Laney. I had never seen her behave this way and she kept saying "owie". Well, she ended up having an ear infection. I was sad for her, but relieved it was something Carson could not catch.

The next day Laney bounced back pretty good. However, on Sunday morning Laney and I woke up with NASTY colds. The evenings were miserable for me, and it was so hard to not kiss all over Carson. So far, Jordan and Carson have stayed healthy and Laney and I are on the mend. Praise the Lord! We started to get cabin fever a bit, because we didn't want to travel in the car together as Laney and I were sneezing so much we didn't want Carson to breath in all our germs :)

Happily Welcoming 2011

What a year 2010 has been for our family. Laney has grown SO MUCH this year and she is such a little chatter box. We welcomed our healthy beautiful son into this world and we are ready for 2011 to be just as great. I think this year will be full of laughing, loving, learning, and growing in the Bailey house. I will be off of work for the first 8 months and will be at home full time with the kids! I am so excited about this, but I have to admit a bit nervous too! Laney is so busy and a newborn demanding in their feeding schedule I am a bit nervous about juggling it all on my own, but I know once we are in a routine I will get the hang of it.

For New Years Eve, we decided to stay home this year. We didn't want to be driving around with Laney & Carson and we wanted them to be able to sleep in their own beds (which Carson did all night). We had some family and friends over and had a great time. Laney enjoyed playing dress up and being chased by her great-aunts. She also enjoyed wrestling and screaming with her cousin Jake. The adults enjoyed the yummy food and playing pictionary on the Wii. Carson enjoyed his eyelids pretty much the entire night, oh except when he decided to wake up and eat at 11:50 so yes I was feeding my little man at midnight. Oh the life of a mommy, wouldn't change it for the world.

First Bath at Home

We gave Carson his first bath (well sponge bath) one day after he spit up quite a bit. We were hoping to do it during Laney's nap time, but he was a mess so we decided to do it right then. We were not sure what to do with Laney, because she is VERY VERY busy. We then decided to put her in her own bath and do his at the same time. It worked REALLY well. In fact Laney enjoyed watching from her bath and then when we were done I put Carson's bath in the tub with her and she began washing her own baby. She would say, "Wash baby hair, feet, face" as she washed each body part with the washcloth.

Christmas

I was so excited on the 23rd, because I kept telling Jordan that is Christmas Eve to us. We celebrate with his family on the 24th and with my family on the 25th. When woke up on Christmas Eve I came downstairs and Jordan told me he had bad news. Some families members were sick and we were not going to head over there to celebrate Christmas together, because it just wasn't worth it with a newborn. I was really sad and cried about it. I am usually not a crier, but my hormones have been going crazy and I have been super emotional. I was sad we wouldn't get to spend the time with family and really sad Laney wouldn't get to celebrate Christmas with her cousins.

Christmas day we spent the morning at home. We actually had to wake Laney up! I was so excited to watch her open presents, but she was SO SLOW! She wanted to play with everything instead of opening her next present. We enjoyed watching her open presents and playing with her new toys and reading the new books as Carson snoozed away in his bed. He sure seems to do nothing but sleep :)

Later we headed to my parents to celebrate with them, my brother, and his girlfriend. We had breakfast and enjoyed just relaxing as Laney took a nap and I snuggled Carson :)

That evening we headed to my Aunt and Uncle's house to celebrate with the extended family. We had a great time and the food was yummy as always. I got a bit overwhelmed as it was just too much to do all in one day with 2 kids after having a C-section 5 days prior. Laney is just super busy and it is so hard to keep up with her especially since she wants mommy to do EVERYTHING. We had a wonderful Christmas this year and we were so thankful to celebrate as a healthy family of 4!

Christmas Cookies

After I was gone for about 3 days Laney and I both needed some Mommy & Laney time. We enjoyed making cookies together with Grandma while Daddy, Grandpa, & Carson watched football :)

Introducing Carson

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Carson Matthew Bailey
December 20, 2010
9:15am

7 pounds 12 ounces
19 inches