On the Road Again and Again

Folks, we have a new navigator. Carter asserted his new authority on the ride down to Alabama. Carter, for instance, decided that he fancied a sunset dinner at a truck stop in Southwest Virginia. So...we all got a sunset dinner at a truck stop in Southwest Virginia.

Unsurprisingly, Carter's schedule did not match exactly to our planned itinerary. Nevertheless, we made it to Poppa and Nana's house. After a terribly busy July, it's time to relax.

At Last!

Well, after too many weeks of a bar review course and more than a few late night "study" sessions with Carter, I am finally done with the bar exam.

Tracy was great through the final weeks: She allowed me to focus on studying but also gave subtle reminders of my priorities at home. With any luck, we won't have to go through all of that again.

As you can see, I had a wonderful greeting to celebrate afterward. Carter, Tracy, and Gram met me shortly after I finished, and we've headed South to see family and friends...and show off Carter.

The Bookends of Law School

Everyone warned me how tough the first year of law school would be as a spouse. I was told I would never see my husband - and true - there were days when I was asleep when he left for the library early in the morning and asleep when he returned late at night. But, we made it, and by the third year we were spending more time together than he was spending at the library.

However, no one warned me about the rude awakening after law school graduation that comes with preparing for the Bar Exam. Adam took a review course in June/July and has been spending lots of time studying on his own as well. I must admit, it has felt a bit reminiscent of the first year of law school. Yet, in the midst of moving into a new house with many home improvement projects, living through a sleep deprived month with a newborn son, and studying for the Bar Exam, Adam has remained a supporting and loving husband.

Good Luck Adam - Carter and I miss you - but are praying for you and wish you a good full night's rest and much focus and strength during the exam.

One Month?

Today marks one month since Carter was born. Hard to believe that much time has passed...when your days and nights blur together it's tough to keep track. Here's a quick slideshow of the month. Think of it as an annotated version of the volumes of pictures we've taken.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our Happy Handsome 4 Week Old

Carter has started to smile occasionally throughout the day. I wouldn't say that the smiles are in response to anything we say or do, but they are adorable smiles nonetheless, and I just happened to catch one on camera yesterday.

Can you see the resemblance?

Carter had a quick fussy moment this morning - don't remember if it was a hunger cry or dirty diaper - but Daddy did a quick imitation of Carter's unhappy face and I couldn't not share it with you.

Summertime

We had the most delicious and refreshing summer pizza last night. Tomatoes from the farmer's market, fresh basil from our garden, and yummy shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Not only was the pizza yummy, it was extremely easy to make. Check out the recipe below.

1 Prepared Pizza Crust

2 tsp. Olive Oil

1-2 cups Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese

2-3 tomatoes, cut into slices

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/4 c. chopped fresh basil

Salt & Pepper to taste

Brush crust with olive oil. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese, leaving 1/2 inch border. Arrange tomatoes over cheese, overlapping. Top with garlic, remaining cheese, salt and pepper. Bake at 500 degrees for 12 minutes on bottom rack of oven. Remove pizza to cutting board; top with basil, let stand 5 minutes.

Back by Popular Demand

So, the first video that Aunt Susan took on her camera was such a big hit, we decided to give you some more. Here is a little play time from this morning. I am happy to report that as I post this entry, Carter is napping soundly. Enjoy.

Super Nanny

Aunt Susan has been a tremendous help and we are trying to come up with ways to prevent her from returning home. She has supervised bath time, provided swaddling tips, rocked Carter to sleep in the middle of the night, cooked some delicious meals (I am eating blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream as I type), babysat so Adam and I could have date night, and so much more. Thank you Aunt Susan!

Here is a picture of her teaching us how to use the Baby Bjorn.

PS - We added several more pictures to the Week 3 link for those of you that are interested.

Play Time with Aunt Susan

Susan took some video of Carter playing early this morning while Mommy & Daddy were still sleeping.

Play Time

The pediatrician encouraged play time and tummy time each day. Here are a few pictures from today's play time. Carter stayed very alert, tried to raise his head some, and exercised his arms and legs a good bit.

Out and About

Although I love our new house and still have plenty of projects to work on after the move, being inside all day every day while recovering can drive me a little stir crazy. We have enjoyed family walks throughout the neighborhood at the end of each day.

Messin' with Momma

Carter had his two week check-up today. His proud parents, feeling good about feedings and sleep and such, were optimistic for a good report. Now, when Carter made his grand appearance into this world he weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces. As is typical, he lost a bit of weight in those first few days, weighing 7 lbs 4 oz. when we left the hospital and 7 lbs 5 oz. at the one week check-up. If everything was going good, at two weeks he should be back up to birth weight or more.

But…this afternoon, with his parents anxiously watching, the scale read just 7 pounds 4 ounces! Seven four?!? How could this be? The ensuing fifteen minute wait for the registered nurse (RN) was a worrisome stretch. What had we done wrong? Is he not eating enough? Will we have to switch to formula? Is he sick? What could it be? What is the treatment? What have we done to our poor child? As you might have guessed, Tracy took the lead in this discussion while Adam tried, in vain, to allay the fears.

Finally, the RN arrived. She calmly agreed with our concern about the weight, but before following us into the worst-case-scenario brainstorm, she recommended that we re-weigh the little guy. “The machine can be funny,” she said. Back at the scales, and with less optimistic parents looking over, Carter squirmed and the scales read eight pounds. EIGHT POUNDS! Well above the birth weight. The anxious parents breathed a sigh of relief.

Just to keep the fun going—and perhaps to make his momma feel a little better—Carter decided to show off a bit. The RN had commented on Carter’s strength for his age. Maybe it was the truth or maybe she was just trying to make us feel better from the weight mix-up. In any case, she indicated that Carter is ready for some tummy time. During a quick demonstration of tummy time, Carter tried out a quasi-crawl (moving arms and legs, but not really going anywhere). And then, get this, the boy rolled over! (Something expected for the four-month check-up.) Well, okay, so it was more of a flop than a roll, but we were all impressed.

So, in the end, Carter is a healthy fella. His momma will, no doubt, continue to worry for him. And Carter will, no doubt, continue messing with her.

Let the Spoiling Begin

As many of you know, we are a long way away from all of Carter's grandparents. But, that has not stopped them from spoiling him from day 1! Gram welcomed Carter at the hospital with balloon and flowers and helped us transition from the hospital to home. She cleaned our house, helped with laundry and ran errands for us. Mimi arrived a few days later bringing lots of meals (check out the stocked fridge!), helping with more laundry, and allowing the new parents to get some much needed sleep in the middle of the night. Granddaddy and Marcia (name TBD) sent a beautiful and priceless cross-stitch of Carter's birth information and picture of Carter from an ultrasound plus a precious pillow with Carter's name, birthday, and little boy train artwork.Poppa and Nana sent these adorable candy bars announcing Carter's arrival - check out the "Mfd by Tracy and Adam" - how cute!

Carter is so fortunate to have such loving and spoiling grandparents!

Incoherent Daddy Speak

Last night was a good night...Carter had 3 good windows of sleep which allowed Daddy to study some and Mommy to get some rest. However, this morning, around 6:30 when Carter started to stir, I asked Daddy to check on him to see if he was hungry or just stirring a bit. Daddy got out of bed - I assumed to check on Carter. However, the next thing I knew, he was looking under the mattress and muttering something about trying to find the umbilical cord stump. Carter's stump fell off several days ago, so I am not sure what was going through Daddy's mind, but I couldn't help but laugh. What made it even more funny is that Daddy thought he was making perfect sense and didn't understand why I was laughing.

"Oh, the night life, it aint no good life, but it's my life"

Sweet Carter is a wonderful sleeper...

...during the day.

But, the nights have not been quite as restful for mommy and daddy or Carter. Last night we tried our hardest to comfort and quiet our sweet little boy for several hours with no success. Finally, we put him in his carseat, put the carseat in the stroller, and strolled him around the living room, kitchen, and dining room at 1:30 in the morning. But, that seemed to be the magic trick, at least for last night. He fell asleep within 20 minutes and slept soundly for the next few hours.


The picture above is from earlier today...once again Carter slept very soundly. We will see what tonight brings. This picture (although he looks incredibly uncomfortable) reminds me of how Carter was positioned before he was born. I can see why I felt certain jabs and kicks in certain places.

Our Little Firecracker