14 Weeks

Let the belly posts begin!  I've decided to go a different route with the angle of the pics this time around.  My goal is to get Matthew to stand under me with the chalkboard, but he won't cooperate right now.  Here's to round #2!

How far along: 14 weeks

Baby's size: a lemon - baby is about 3.5 inches long and weighs about 1.5 oz
Maternity clothes: I am wearing maternity jeans in the pic, but it's not a necessity yet.
Sleep: hit and miss - between frequent bathroom breaks and Mike's snoring, I'm awake more than I want to be.

Best moment this week: We've started reading Matthew's Big Brother book & he loves it!  He likes to point out the baby on each page.

Miss anything: sleeping on my stomach and having a normal appetite
Movement: I'm pretty sure I've felt movement a few times - can't wait to feel the big kicks!

Food cravings: orange juice, fruit, cheese dip

Anything making you queasy or sick: nothing specific, just certain smells
Gender:  Don't know yet, but should find out in a little over a month.  I've gone back & forth about what I think we're having, but can't make up my mind.  I've had 2 dreams that it's a girl and 1 that it's a boy - who knows!  I'll be happy with either!!!

Labor signs: nope

Symptoms: morning sickness (BOO!), exhaustion, headaches, and siatica

Belly button in or out: in - it never went out with Matthew
Wedding rings on or off: on

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy, but the exhaustion & hormones cause mood swings.

Looking forward to: Our 16 week appointment so I can hear that precious heartbeat again!

2013 Review

What a year 2013 was!  We celebrated lots of firsts with Matthew, took family trips, and welcomed new babies into the family/friend circle.  Here is a look into the highlights of our year.

1.  Mike and I's 5th wedding anniversary!  We spent the day in Hot Springs eating great food and getting a couple's massage.  Mike wasn't so keen on the massage part, but he went through with it for me :-)  It's crazy how fast time flies - especially after having kids.  It's been a wonderful 6 years and I'm looking forward to many more!  We look like babies in these pics!

2.  One of my best friends, Katie, had her first baby.  Sweet Eleanor Marie was born May 8th (1 day after her Aunt Lindsay's b-day) and is absolutely precious!  She looks just like her momma.  The pic is from Matthew and Eleanor's first play date and the Fall Carnival at Crestwood :-)

3.  In May, I celebrated my first Mother's Day!  I spent the day with my family and being pampered with love.

4.  Mother's Day is also the day that Matthew was dedicated at church.  It was such a special moment for Mike and I to promise to raise Matthew in the church and teach him about his Creator.

5.  We went to the beach with the Fleisher family in June.  While Matthew wasn't sure of the beach and sand, he loved the pool.  He was the cutest beach bum there!

6.  While at the beach, we celebrated Mike's first Father's Day.  We spent the day at the beach/pool and went out to eat that evening because it was also his birthday.  Matthew is lucky to have such a great daddy!

7.  In July, we went to Branson with my family.  Matthew was a trooper with all of our shopping.  I know we will make many more trips to Branson in the years to come.

8.  We also took Matthew to the zoo for the first time in July.  He loved it, but I can't wait to take him again because his love for animals has become an obsession.  We are waiting for the first warm Saturday to go again using our family pass!

9.  Matthew turned 1 in August and it was a huge celebration!  We had water activities in the backyard and the house was decorated in blue, green, and orange for our dinosaur themed party.  I loved having a house full of family and friends helping celebrate our sweet boy.  

10.  Another best friend of mine, Laura, welcomed her first baby in September.  Wyatt Andrew was born on September 4th and is one handsome little dude!  I know he and Matthew will be best friends.  I can't wait to see them grow up together, along with Eleanor :-)  All 3 BFF's are pictured below.

11.  On September 15th, my second niece was born.  Little Emily Kate joined her big sis Alli and is an absolute doll!  It's been fun watching how different the two girls are.  I know they will have a sweet, sister relationship.

12.  After Christmas, we went to Illinois to spend time with family.  It was even more special this time around because the entire Fleisher family was there for the first time since I joined the family.  While it was a quick trip, and a LONG car ride, it was an amazing trip.  Pictured below is the whole Fleisher family, Carlson family, and Grandma Carlson with her 8 great grand kids.

13.  Matthew is going to be a BIG BROTHER!!!  We found out we were expecting in early November and announced to family at Christmas.  We are thrilled to become a family of 4.  Fleisher baby #2 is due July 24th.  I'm anxiously awaiting early March when we find out boy or girl! 

Here's to 2013 being such a great year, and to 2014 being even better!  There will be lots of changes, but I know it will all be worth it.

Christmas 2013

So I am officially getting way behind keeping up with this blog!  Now that Matthew is into everything, I am exhausted by the time he goes to bed.  His bedtime is now my bedtime too!  We did have a wonderful end to 2013 (I will do my yearly review in another post).  Christmas was so different with a 16 month old compared to a 4 month old.  Matthew loved opening and climbing on his gifts.  We, of course, made the trip to see Santa and got a priceless pic!  This year we went to Bass Pro Shop to play in their Christmas area.  We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house.  Every year we have Christmas brunch before opening gifts - delicious every year!  Christmas morning, we ate breakfast as a family before opening gifts.  We then headed to Conway to celebrate Christmas with Mike's family.  Here are the only pics I got of our celebrations:

Told ya - classic!

Working on a reindeer craft at Bass Pro

Christmas Eve at my parents - love my little family!

Christmas morning breakfast

Matthew loved his tent w/ tunnel!

He's wearing the pj's I put in his Christmas Eve box.  It included pj's for Christmas morning, a Veggie Tales Christmas movie, and Christmas book.

The day after Christmas, the Fleisher family drove to Illinois to visit the rest of the Fleisher/Carlson side of the family.  It was an interesting trip because Matthew ran fever the whole time since he was cutting 3 teeth (1 being a molar) - poor thing!

15 Month Update

I admit, I've been terrible at keeping up with this blog lately.  I'm just soaking up every bit of family time right now!  Matthew is at such a fun age and I don't want to miss a thing.  Here are a few highlights of what Matthew's been up to:

~  We went to see Dr. B this week and he gave you a glowing report as usual!  You weighed 24 lbs 3 oz and were 31.5 inches long.  Unfortunately, your height is kind of our best guess because they were off at your 12 month appointment by at least an inch.  When they measured you at your 15 month appointment, the nurse got 31.25 and the doctor got 32.5.  We just estimated your height at 12 and 15 months based on your 9 month stats.

~  You have 4 teeth (FINALLY!).  You got your first two teeth at 12.5 months, then the next two followed shortly after.  I know that more teeth are coming thru because you are drooling up a storm and have your fingers in your mouth all the time.

~  You are a busy-body like non-other (another reason I'm behind on this blog)!!  You walk/run all over the place.  You've gotten to where you really don't want to be held much because you want to move around on your own (unless you are unfamiliar with the environment).  I know we've got our hands full, but I'm looking forward to keeping up with you :-)

~  You LOVE to climb!  It started with you climbing into your toy basket.  You then learned how to climb into our bathroom cabinets, onto storage totes then on the couch, on your activity table/motorcycle/rocking chair, and into the kitchen cabinets.  You were literally all the way on the top shelf in the lower cabinets with just your little bottom and feet hanging out.

~  You are talking more and more.  You still do more babbling than saying just words, but it's adorable.  While you may not, yet, know how to say certain words, you know exactly what we're talking about.  You can say dada, mama, Bella "be-ba", uh-oh, and bye bye.  I'm amazed at how smart you are - such a proud momma!

~  You've developed a love for reading again.  It went away for a few months while you were busy learning to crawl and walk.  You especially love a book filled with animal pictures.  We are reading books over and over again with you snuggled in our laps.

~  You absolutely LOVE animals of all kinds!!!  You are only interested in books or shows that have animals.  You can identify several of them: dog, cat, cow, horse, donkey, chicken, pig, snake, monkey, lion, sheep, giraffe, elephant, tiger, polar bear, rhinoceros, bird, fish, bee, and bunny.

Now, here are a few pics of my sweet little 15 month old Matthew

 He loves his alligator!

 Like Father, like Son - spaghetti is his FAVE!

 Told ya - climbing in his toy basket, he was so proud of himself

 Meeting my BFF's babies -  which makes them Matthew's BFF's

 Checked this off the Fall Bucket List - playing in a pile of leaves

 A Saturday walk to the park - Matthew loved it!

 Reading in his first fort

 Playing in Bella's dog house

Sitting on the couch after climbing a storage tote - this was in between jumping on the couch

I love you sweet boy and am looking forward to the Christmas season with you!  You are already in awe of our Christmas tree :-)

Halloween 2013

Man, things have been crazy!  I guess that's why I've been MIA for almost 2 months.  We had such a fun Halloween this year!  We started by going to GS Fest at Geyer Springs where Mike works.  He usually videos that night, but he was able to find a replacement so he could spend time with his family.  It was AMAZING!  Just like a small, clean state fair with rides, fair food, games, and much more!  It was also nice because they had a designated area for children under the age of 7.  Perfect for Matthew to be able to jump in the bounce houses.  This is definitely a new tradition for our family.  Here are some pictures from GS Fest:

Not sure about the bounce house

VERY sure about the slide :-)

He at least enjoyed watching the other kids jump around

Love my family!!!

M loved his first ride on the carousel!

And the light-up stick from Aunt Lauren

Sitting with his daddy in the firetruck

Of course, his favorite things were the giant inflatable man things

This is a video of M going down the big slide with Mike.  This is the only video that would show in the correct direction.  They made it down without getting stuck the first time.

Now, on to actual Halloween day.  We got Matthew all dressed up, strapped in his wagon, and strolled down the street to our block party.  On our way, M got his first handful of candy from our sweet neighbors.  He tried the bite-sized Poptarts, but wasn't sure what to think about the sweet taste.  We walked around the block just looking at the other costumes before heading to the block party.  We were excited because we were able to meet new neighbors!  What's crazy is that the girl who hosted the party grew up a block away from me - so weird!  We immediately were like, "Hey, I know you!".  I didn't realize there were so many other kids in our neighborhood that were close to M's age - great to know as he gets older!  My Lil' Monster was absolutely precious and got so many compliments while we walked around and later helped me pass out candy.

Cutest little monster ever!

Checkin' out his first handful of candy

Playing with the candy we passed out 

I realize that I haven't done a true update on Matthew and what he's up to.  I promise I will soon!  He is at such a fun age, so I want to soak it all up while I can :-)