Merry Christmas!

From our family, to yours!

Merry Christmas!

6 months...

Carlos, you are 6 months old!!

I know, I can't believe it either!

You are soo big!

We weighed you Wednesday at the hospital...

you are 17lbs and 27.5 in.

You still wear size 2 diapers,

(because we haven't used them all)

3-6 and 6-9 mo clothes,

size 2 shoes

(yes we actually bought you a real pair!).

You have learned a lot of new things this month...

You can sit up for long periods of time

(why I don't have a pic, I have no clue!)

You have explored a lot of new foods...

 You love peas, apples, pears, butternut squash, sweet potatoes,

You tolerate carrots if we put apples with them,

You HATE alvacado.

Dad and I are making about 95% of your food!

You still dive for Dr. Pepper's!

 You are WAY more aware of your surroundings that ever,

You already love to people watch...

and people love to watch you too!

We also got a Mai Tai carrier for the handy back carry.

Some days you still just need to stay attached to mommy...

I don't mind, because those days will get fewer and fewer before I'm ready.

You are still ALWAYS happy...

 Well, occasionally you get upset.

And your brother and sister...

Still love ya too!

We are looking forward to your first Christmas and what fun next year brings!

A Bug's Life...

As I scrolled through recent posts, I realized that Bug hasn't gotten much screen time recently.

So, I'll just fix that for you!

She's great!

Beautiful!

Spunky!

Easily Distracted.

Still dancing.

A Great Big Sis!

(she decided to introduce him to Mama Mia! early :) )

She's fun to talk to,

and loves "girl dates"

Oh, and she's been sewing...

and getting more and more fashion savvy!

Heaven, Help US!

You just can't help but love this girl.

She's the most happy, positive person I know!

Pumpkin Pie...

Ace decided this year that he wanted to make pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.

No problem, I think to myself, easy peasy, it comes in cans!

But no, Ace then goes into great detail about getting pumpkins and scooping out seeds.

So...we made it a day!

Here, I present to all of you...

PUMPKIN PIE BY ACE THE AMAZING!!

First, we got our pumpkins, cut them up, and scooped them out.

(Hubs and I helped out with the cutting...

for obvious reasons)

Then we put it on a pan and baked it.

While the pumpkin was cooking, we moved on to our next project.

CRUST!

Now, I was taught "Old School" by the amazing Granmother...

no need for that fake stuff when you've got Crisco, flour and a glass of ice water!

 I went over the basics,

we measured everything out,

and Ace went to work with the dough cutter...

 My Joy Boy did it great!

Then he rolled out the dough...

I helped him with evening it out and putting it on the plate,

then demonstrated the finer points of Granmother's edge crimping...

 He's a fast learner!

(in full disclosure, we didn't quite bake it long enough and ended up having to steam it after we peeled the skin to get it soft enough to puree)

While we baked the crust, we moved back to the pumpkin...

 We loaded it up in the food processor

and pureed away!

This is what we ended up with...

In went our other ingredients...

(Can't believe he kept posing!)

Then...

in the oven it went!

While baking,

I took a minute to scoop up the extra puree into small servings to use as baby food later!

I've been researching baby food making lately.

Anticipating that Carlos will be another big eater :)

Ok, back to the pie...

It turned out great!

Ace took it to Thanksgiving Dinner at church Sunday night...

It was a hit!

I am so proud of my new baker!

5 months

Carlos, you are 5 months old!

Gram can't believe it, and neither can we!

You have grown into quite a mover and grabber...

Oh, and gnawer too!

You constantly chew your hands, or other peoples hands around you...

and Oh, the drool.

ICK!

At your last Dr appointment you were 

15lb 12oz (50th%)

27in (95th%)

You're probably going to be tall!

You are wearing 3-6 and some 6-9mo clothes

(mostly bigger pants for the extra length)

We are still squeezing you into size 2 diapers

(we still have 3 unopened packages, but may soon pack those up for Bec and move on to 3's)

You have had many firsts this month.

You had surgery :(

Your first (hopefully of many) World Series

Your first Halloween

(Uncle J-Rod snuck popcorn in your monkey!)

Your first Balloon Festival

You were mesmerized by the lights!

You've also, much to Daddy's great delight, tasted your first "real foods"

It was hard to resist with a face like this...

Then there was all of the begging and the infamous Dr. Pepper Dive!

So far you've had rice cereal and bananas,

and there's no going back...you love your food!

You are so happy!

You smile, and laugh and cackle all the time.

We love you so much!

Happy Halloween!

From Jessie, Woody, and Buzz!

It's Been A Week...

So, we had a first in our family last week.

Until Mr. Carlos came along, the worst we'd been through was some ear infections and allergies (the seasonal kind), and I've always been quite humbled and thankful for that.

Carlos needed some minor day surgery for a little problem that was noticed after he was born.

 (Just a little side note, even minor surgery is MAJOR surgery to a mommy.)

So, I'm not going into details...

and mostly just jotting all this down

1.)because I've got some really cute pictures

2.)Hubs is watching what we are hoping will be the last game of the World Series, and when I watched the game Saturday, the Rangers lost big time.

(and I haven't really gotten over the whole rain delay debacle of last week)

and I've already read the news and stalked my blogs.

(another little side note...in the middle of the page...Hubs is so wound up about the game tonight that he's cracking me up...he's like Ace excited on steroids and sporting brown hair!  I have so much to look forward to!!)

OK, back on track.

We farmed out the big kids, got up early, and were off on the dreaded adventure.

We've learned a lot of new things about pediatric surgery.

1. Children's Hospital is very good at what they do.

2. They make hospital gowns really small...

and they still involve mooning everyone around you :)

 3. 4 month old little boys have NO CLUE what hospital gowns and beds mean :(

In true Carlos fashion, he woke up a happy and talking!

He even flirted with the nurses and showed of all of his kicking skills!

The parts I dreaded most were handing him over, and the time after surgery when we weren't going to be with him...

Oh, how my prayers were answered.

Hubs was able to snuggle him to sleep before the Anesthesiologist arrived, and was able to hand him off to the circulating nurse, who snuggled him up and carried him back to the OR sound asleep.

After waiting, for what seemed like forever, and talking to the Dr., we were taken back to Post-op and he was brought back to us still asleep...an even bigger blessing when we heard other kids coming out screaming.

He actually, despite our best efforts, slept for about an hour after we got him back.

We couldn't go home until he was awake enough to eat and not get sick.

Thankfully, we have a professional sleepy nurser :)

Here he is after getting everything disconnected...

 Still sporting the sleepy eyes.

I'd like to report that recovery was a breeze,

but it was no fun.

I will, happily, report that he did, finally, get his very own Rangers shirt as a consolation prize!

He loves the Rangers!

So, while I don't ever want to have to go through something like this again, my heart has been reminded over and over again that we could have it so much worse.

Ace and I took him for his first Post Op visit this afternoon...

 and are happy to report that all is well!!

Go Rangers!

Oh, and one more pic, just for Gram...

who love her baby feet!

4 Months...

Carlos, today you were 4 months old!

You are big and happy!

and very bald!

You are holding up your head very well.
You've rolled over twice (belly to back), but are very sneaky about it.
Both times you wait til I'm distracted.
You have started "talking" to us...
especially when you are tired or getting hungry,
if we talk to you, you answer.
It is very cute!
You can laugh and "cackle" too.
We learned how to do a "back carry" with our wrap...

At first, it made Ace nervous, but it works great on days that you want to help me clean house!
You are also in the midst of your first ever Ranger's Postseason.
You are enjoying spending time in your Jumperoo watching the game.
This is how excited you were the night they won the ALCS championship...

(love those chubby hands!)
In your defense...it was LATE!
And, we had a busy day.
You were SUPPOSED to go to your first Rangers game...but we won't go there tonight.

Ok,
I have no clue how much you weigh, but we'll find out tomorrow.
You are wearing size 2 diapers,
3-6 month clothes
6-9 month footy PJ's
(you are super long, and don't like to feel constricted).

Tomorrow is going to be a hard day.
Don't feel like talking about it right now,
but your are going to do great.

We love you so much!

(and here is your ACE shot)

You two are going to have so much fun growing up together!