Mickey Mouse Club

The boys wanted to model their matching Mickey Mouse shirts this morning! Grandad & Grandma Nancy brought them back from a seminar in California a couple of months ago. We just found out this week that Grandad is going to be leading a parenting workshop in Hong Kong!! Congratulations, Grandad! Wonder what kind of souvenirs they have in China?! ;-)

This is the look Carter gave me when I told him to make a "handsome face".

snow day

Sean took Carter outside to play in the snow on Saturday. I guess they were both getting a case of cabin fever. Carter had a blast and came in freezing cold (due to some soggy mittens), but wanted to go right back outside. I think we are all ready for Spring!

being silly

Carter found these glasses and has been wearing them all weekend. He put his hat on all by himself (it's backwards) and wanted to wear the glasses with his PJ's, too! What a goof-ball!

Three months old!

Davis is three months old today! I cannot believe how fast the time is flying by. He is a happy baby and we are enjoying him being more social and interactive. He smiles and laughs now and "talks" to you. Still, his favorite thing is watching his big brother. I can't wait to see these two in another few months when Davis is able to sit up and start playing.

All smiles as we head out to pick up Carter from "school".
Just had a big spit-up episode, so not as happy in this pic.

bumbo time

Davis is getting really good at holding his head up, just working on control now. He seems to enjoy his vantage point from the Bumbo seat. He loves to smile at Carter and was even laughing at Sean over the weekend, but wasn't feeling it today. Oh well!

dreams

Last night as I was watching the Olympics, I was suddenly overcome with emotion as Lindsey Vonn won a gold medal, despite her shin injury. Some people work their entire lives to receive recognition and validation on the world's stage while others work just as tirelessly for private successes. More than likely, my boys will not be winning gold medals in the Olympics when they grow up...and I'm fine with that.


My dream for my boys is that they find something they are passionate about and pursue that, either as a career or a supplement to their work; sometimes dreams don't pay so well. I want them to be happy, and of course successful, (What parent doesn't want that for their child?) but above all I want them to feel accepted and loved by us no matter what they choose to be. As they grow up and life becomes more complicated, I hope my boys know I will be behind them every step of the way. Mommy will always be your biggest fan, no medal required.

We love you both SO much!

questions

Carter has been saying so many funny things lately. We think his verbal skills are pretty impressive! He has started asking about what things "do". (Can you say future engineer?) Anyway, he will ask "Mommy, what does a fan do?" "Mommy, what does a car do?" and my favorite: "Mommy, what does a strawberry do?" As Sean pointed out last week, sometimes it is difficult to come up with an answer for him.


This morning he was asking me a series of questions at breakfast, so I asked him: "Carter, what does Mommy do?" He said "Mommy goes in the kitchen." Hmmm...an interesting answer since I am certainly no cook. But, I guess heating up hot dogs and unloading the dishwasher have made quite an impression! So, I decided to ask him "What does Daddy do?". Carter thought about it for a second (I was secretly hoping he would say "watch TV" so I could use that against Sean someday, but I guess Carter enjoys watching Myth Busters) then said "Daddy goes in the car". I think this is partly because we had just said "goodbye" to Sean as he left for work and got into his car, and partly because Sean often takes Carter out in the garage when he is working on the car. In any case, it was pretty cute!

Today, Carter walked into our bedroom and said: "Hi, my name is Carter". I told him I knew it was his name because I picked it! I guess he's ready for his first cocktail party!

the Olympics

Daddy & Davis chillin' on the couch, enjoying the Olympics. Davis says he wants to learn to snowboard, too!

Valentine's Day

Thank you to everyone for the Valentine cards & gifts for the boys! Carter loved opening up the cards and took the liberty of opening up Davis's cards as well.

This is the card that Carter made for Sean! He colored it and put the letters in place (with a little coaching from me). He had so much fun making it that he now wants to make something every day. Maybe the glitter glue was a little premature on my part!


Sunday morning was snowy and cold, but we had already planned on going out to breakfast after I got off work. However, the girls coming in for the day shift said that the roads were really slick so we decided to scrap our original idea of Sean bringing the boys downtown to meet me & settled on IHOP by our house instead.

When we got home, Carter opened up his Valentine gifts. He ended up getting more than I intended, but we have been talking about using the "big boy potty" so I had gotten an Elmo potty book, DVD and "big boy undies". I didn't want it to be all about potty-training, so he got a couple of other things, too. Let's just say that not every year will be this bountiful. Davis got a new outfit on sale at Target and a teether. He was happy with that.

Not pictured is my Valentine's gift...a Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit Plus! I had been hinting to Sean that I wanted one since I will never find the time to actually leave the house to work out. I am so excited to start using it! Hopefully the pounds will just melt away. :-)

fun visit

Mimi was in town for the last weekend of my maternity leave. We had a short, but fun-filled weekend! She watched the boys for us on Saturday night so Sean and I could go out to dinner and a movie...thanks, Mimi! We enjoyed every second of it as it will probably be our last "date night" for a long time.

Our morning routine: Up at 5:30ish, fix Carter breakfast & feed Davis, make coffee, keep Carter from maiming the dog, watch the dog seek refuge on Mimi's feet.
We met Sean for lunch at Johnny Rocket's on Monday

The Beilman gang, sans Davis (he was sleeping like a good baby!)

Mimi & Carter on the carousel in the middle of the mall--pretty cool!

Early Valentine's present from Mimi--new books! Thank you, Mimi!

Mimi & her favorite boys

nice touch

I had ordered a couple of things from Uppercase Living several months ago & we just got around to putting them up in the boys' room. I think they look great & Carter agreed!

Thanks for putting these up, Daddy!

Super Bowl fun

Mimi is in town for a short visit this weekend, so we decided to have the Hutchinsons over to watch the Super Bowl. We had fun watching the game (and commercials) and Carter enjoyed all the attention.

Carter modeling Mimi's shoes and a chip clip
Carter showing off his new faux-hawk 'do with Mimi

Think we could have fit anyone else on the couch?

Taylor brought Carter some of his old Duplo Legos and they were a HUGE hit! This set is 20+ years old and still has almost all the pieces, original box and instructions! Carter had a blast building all sorts of things. Thanks, Taylor!

Lego airplane

brotherly love

I think it is so sweet to see how much Davis already idolizes his big brother. My hope is for these boys to be the best of friends as they grow up.

the boy has a name

puzzle mania

The amazing thing about this video is that I have a hard time putting this puzzle together. There is no picture to match the puzzle piece to the cut-out, plus the numbers on the cars are not in any particular order. I had no idea Carter could do this puzzle so well and was pretty impressed when Sean showed me the video. What do puzzle skills translate to later in life?

Carter sure knows the alphabet forwards and backwards...we're working on our numbers. :-)

playdate party

Since there are so many of us at work with kiddos about the same age, we decided to start a playgroup several months ago. We get together every other month or so. Anyway, this afternoon we had a very bittersweet play date at Christine's house to wish our friend/co-worker Jennifer well as she and her husband prepare move their family back to Texas. Jennifer is a wonderful nurse and just all-around great person. We are really going to miss her!

The guests of honor, Jennifer & Will




Yummy cake!

Jenny with Logan & me with Davis on the couch. In the foreground is Caryssa "listening" to Savannah's heart. Future nurses?!

Jenny & I have babies that are about a month apart & her daughter is about two months younger than Carter. We have laughed several times about our "parallel lives" and have discovered so many similarities since having our kids, including that she bought Logan the same Christmas outfit I got for Davis. She is the blond, Republican version of me! (Well, maybe not, but we sure have a lot in common.)

Almost all the kiddos made it into this photo--they had so much fun trashing Christine's house! So sorry, Christine!

Look at all these toys!

Christine & her husband just finished their basement. It is every child's dream play area!

Will surrounded by the ladies

Carter playing with the kitchen as the girls watch

Lunch!

Davis & Logan chillin' on the couch

desperate times...

Between our many illnesses and the cold weather, it has not been easy to get out with the boys lately. As I have mentioned before, I get major cabin fever after a couple of days of being stuck inside (I'm sure it has nothing to do with the size of our house). Anyway, yesterday I remembered what we used to do in the hospital playroom---rice play! It is a great substitute for sand and is always a hit. Carter loved it! He was pouring it back and forth with his little cups and had so much fun burying his Hot Wheels cars in it. He would pretend they were lost & then "find" them.

Aside from seeing how much Carter enjoyed it, the secondary benefit was that I was able to clean up the kitchen and make dinner with almost no interruptions. He literally played with it for almost an hour! You really cannot appreciate what a big deal this is unless you have spent a lot of time around two-year-old boys. Trust me.

So, the part you cannot really see from the photos is how much rice ended up on the floor. I knew this would be messy, but wasn't really thinking about how many teeny, tiny kernels of rice would end up scattered everywhere. Oh well. Some things are worth it.

Davis was captivated by his big brother

Just hangin' out, mom. :-)

monkey see...

Carter has found a way to get attention even when brother is doing "tummy time". He gets down on the floor and does a face plant just like his baby brother. It is so funny! I'm sure Carter thinks we're crazy for making such a big deal of it when Davis raises his head up and looks around. He doesn't remember what hard work that is when you're just a little guy!

My boys!

Sean with the boys in their matching PJ's from Grandma Nancy & Grandad. Too cute!
Hangin' with daddy

Still not feeling 100%, but I'm getting better!

getting there

Just an update on the Beilman Family infirmary:

Davis had a low fever last night (100.4) but since he is only two months old it warranted a call to our pediatrician. He was very reassuring that we did not need to go to the ER just yet (thank goodness!!!). He was actually glad to hear that we had gotten a positive RSV test on Friday because low-grade temps are not uncommon in RSV and that basically "ruled out", with reasonable certainty, any other sort of infection that may be going on. Two months is kind of a milestone in that babies have been able to establish enough of an immune system that they can fight off many minor infections on their own. Since Davis was still breathing OK (with the help of a lot of saline and bulb suctioning his nose) and eating enough to stay hydrated, he was comfortable with us staying home unless things got worse.
I put moved his pack-n-play right next to our bed and nearly drove myself crazy listening to & watching his breathing last night. Thankfully, this this morning he looked and sounded better! He still has a nasty cough, but is coughing less frequently. He is also eating more! He is back to about 4 oz every three to four hours which makes me so happy. He has lost weight just being sick for a few days, but at this rate, I'm sure his chubby cheeks will be back in no time! I will be so glad when he is back to 100%...it is VERY difficult to sit by and watch your child suffer, knowing you are limited in what you can do to help.
Sean and Carter both seem to be on the tail-end of their colds and Carter even got to play outside today! I am planning on taking him to "playschool" tomorrow morning as usual. Of course, I've been feeling sick all day but the Claritin is helping and so did the two-hour nap I got (thanks to Sean). I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a few healthy weeks this winter. So far, 2010 is not off to a great start!