The past several weeks have absolutely FLOWN by and my maternity leave is quickly coming to an end! :( But Carter and I have been on the go and have spent little time at home as I knew that this time of year would consist of meeting up with friends for lunches and running lots of errands weekly to get ready for Thanksgiving dinners, holiday parties, and buying Christmas gifts! He has proven to be the easiest baby ever...always easy to take on-the-go and seriously, he only cries when he is hungry or over-stimulated & just wants to just be snuggled to fall asleep in your arms. He is sleeping at night from about 9:30/10:00pm to around 5am...he has dropped the 2-3am feeding for the most part, but sneaks one in there every once in a while (*update: I think I jinxed myself by typing that sentence a few days ago, because Carter has been back up ready to nurse at 3:00am the past three nights = one tired mommy again. Oh well...maybe he's just going through a little growth spurt???)
Carter is SMILING up a storm these days and knows his mommy and daddy's voice so well! He also loves to watch everything that his big sister does, and she loves to love on him - everything from holding him, to patting his head, to playing with him on his activity mat. Kinsley is proving to be a wonderful sister to her little brother. She loves singing to him and talking all the time...you can easily catch her singing Good Night Baby, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Old MacDonald, and Jingle Bells, just to name a few. I am still nursing Carter and he is doing great - we have both settled into a good routine of feeding him every 3 hours, except for the long stretch at night, and during his 2-ish hour nap after lunchtime in the afternoon when he can go about 4 hours between feedings instead of 3.
Right now Carter LOVES baths, being held, his Nap Nanny, cooing, Christmas tree lights, music, the lights & sounds of the TV, sleeping, his hands, his paci, his carseat, his swing, and blankets. He absolutely hates the blue ball syringe thingy that sucks the nasty stuff out of his nose, a dirty diaper, and being swaddled while still awake. Carter has definitely completed our family and we are having a blast getting ready for our first Christmas as a family of four! We just had his two month appointment last week on December 3rd and got great news about our growing boy (this explains why, at 2 months, he has already outgrown a lot of his 3 month clothing...and explains why I just bought our first box of size 2 diapers):
- Weight = 12 lb 14.8 oz (75th percentile)
- Height = 23.25" (50-75th percentile)
- Head = 40.6cm (50-75th percentile)
We had a great Thanksgiving 2012 with family as we once again hosted the big meal at our house! We got both of our Atlanta-area immediate families together and had a great day of food, drinks, fellowship and football! Then on Saturday, after the Dawgs beat the Yellow Jackets, we met up at the lake for a little while and grabbed this casual but wonderful family photo for my parents' Christmas card. I love how our family has grown so much since last year! And since Thanskgiving, we have been busy getting ready for the most wonderful time of the year! Here's a look at our Thanksgiving and kick-off to the Christmas season...
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| The Marshall / Stanford Thanksgiving family photo! |
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| The table set for Thanksgiving...so special because Kinsley "made" all of the napkin rings. She loves helping with anything in the kitchen! |
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| At 6 weeks, this was my first good photo of Carter giving me a big smile! |
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| Stylin'...cold-weather style. |
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| Daddy with his babies! |
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| Our little daredevil at the playground with MayMay and Pop! |
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The kiddos watching Curious George in bed together one night.
Look at the sweet smile he snuck in there! |
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| Ready for bed! |
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| Our Elf, "Chippy," arrived once the tree was up and has been keeping an eye on things ever since! |
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| Our tree - totally 100% toddler proof this year. |
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Kinsley loves our blow-up Santa in the front yard - when he's "deflated" in the daytime, she says "Oh no! Santa's not pumped!"
Yep, we caved and got one of these blow-up characters.
And I am 100% positive he will not be the last one we purchase... |
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| Big dog. Little baby. LOVE. |
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| Loving his new blue Nap Nanny! |
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| Cheering on the Bulldogs! |
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| Making gingerbread cookies...there was a lot of sugar and icing consumed in the process. |
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| So cute - a Christmas bib from MayMay: "The result of mommy kissing Santa." |
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| Carter AND Kinsley on the activity mat! |
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| Sweetness... |
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BeeBe and Kinsley during our special trip last Friday to the Georgia Aquarium!
We had a blast! |
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| At the Dolphin Show! |
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| Me and both my sweet kiddos at the Aquarium! |
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| Talking to the fishies... |
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Mommy, this Christmas ornament is too big to play with!
I will try climbing on it instead... |
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| Some of the beautiful Atlanta skyline behind her. |
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| Daddy and Kinsley in front of the big tree at The Forum...just look at the size of the huge bows on that thing! |
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| Kinsley at her friend Chase's birthday party at the fire station - she loved it! |
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| Two months old, with the sweetest blue eyes and chubby little cheeks! |
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| All smiles and ready for his first Christmas! |
