my nine month bae

when it's summer and it's baby picture time what do ya do.... you get nakey! (or get dressed in suspenders. ;o)

who doesn't love a cute little baby bum?!  he'll hate these years from now but, i'm loving them.  

for this month's shoot i had to go solo. :( libby and i just couldn't mesh our schedules and with our move and the chaos of life it just wasn't in the cards.  no worries though.. with a little picmonkey magic and my nikon i snapped away and ended up with a few decent ones.  that said i can't WAIT for his one year shoot this fall.  it's going to be epic!!  stay tuned.  

 

carson taylor: nine months

it's unbelievable to me that you are nine months old!  how are there only three months left in your first year?!

also, how is it that every month when i sit down to write this post i'm still just totally shocked by how much you've changed and what you've done in 30(ish) days?!  (new mommy-ness i guess.) someone recently told me that no one works as hard as a baby and i agree! 

you continue to amaze this momma!  this month you became such a wiggly, giggly baby!  you move non-stop and while you can't pull your self up to objects yet you can stand up and steady yourself.  you can adequately rock on your hands and knees but won't commit to crawling just yet.  you like to be on the floor and doing your own thing but...with people around.  we often find you moaning to be moved out of your superman position and back to your bottom.  it's an on-going thing these days because while you want to go, go, go you just can't. 

when it comes to personality, you are increasingly curious and i've found you multiple times staring or looking at something or someone with your head tilted and your forehead all crinkled up as if you're in deep thought.  you also do this thing now when you get a new object where you hold it out and twist it back and forth as you try to figure it out.  

you are also a feisty, spirited little being who knows what he wants and lemme tell you - you can throw a fit!  whenever you are laid down for a diaper change or to take a bottle when you are not in the mood you are quick to slap your legs up and down and cry it out.  you are going to have some strong abs little man! 

you LOVE to read story books!  especially when it's daddy who is doing the reading.  you love it when we say 'YAY' and clap excitedly at the end of the stories.  you are fascinated by clapping.  you also love a good game of peek-a-boo and are really into your puppy.  you either stare at her and all out belly laugh or cry in terror when she shakes in front of you.  it's hit or miss.

this month was another big one for you with LOTS of change. you've started eating solids - like actually hard food (puffs, mashed bananas and avocado), transitioned to formula, moved out of your baby bathtub, switched to a big boy carseat AND perhaps the biggest change of all was your home.  we moved and so far you've adjusted well.   

both you and allie now watch with anticipation as cody and i eat - if it's not you reaching for our plates it's allie drooling in hopes of getting a scrap.  meal time is almost easier after you go to bed these days. 

you have developed a pretty consistent sleep and wake pattern - first nap at 7:30/8, second around 10:30, a third during the mid-afternoon and a short catnap around 4:30/5.   then its up once in the night for a diaper change and bottle and you're back to sleep until 6:30. 

on the physical side you now have the cutest mohawk of (reddish) hair and experienced your first diaper rash this month.  you don't have any teeth yet but, you've had a couple long nights that i know are 100% attributed to teething.  

you've had a few clingy days when you were teething and some separation anxiety has started but you're typically 'ok' if mom and dad are in eyesight.  i've also had to start using the word 'no' on a more frequent basis like when you tried to eat the cable cord or when you pull on my hair.     

doctor deets:    
head - 53rd percentile 
weight - 45th percentile - 19 lbs. 6 oz.
height - 1st percentile - 26 3/8 in. 

 i never knew i had a void in my heart until i met you.  you make me happy beyond measure. i adore everything about you baby boy and am so blessed to call you mine.  your cute to boot and have the best little personality.  everyone who meets you loves you. 

for the love of pete baby, stop growing!      

 

changes

what: now that the 'i's are dotted and the 't's are crossed i can officially share that cody and i are moving!  it's bittersweet but timely.

  

why: first of all let me just say that i loved our home!  if i could have picked it up and put it somewhere else i would have!  we poured a lot into making it ours and i am somewhat sad  that we're moving on so quick.  

we're tightening our radius though.  we work and carson attends daycare in different towns, several miles north of our home.  i spend at least 90 minutes on the road every.single.day.  and when your pnug is only awake and with you for so many you start to realize how precious time really is.  moving will give us the gift of time and for me will lessen my daily drive time by 40 minutes.  that's huge!  not to mention we'll be moving to a smaller town with a smaller school district.  that was compelling reason number two.  we both grew up in a small town and were able to explore several activities at an early age because of it's size.  we wanted to same for carson.

where:  to a town just south of where i work - still in iowa!  in a house that we've not yet started on a lot that we've already purchased.  and the best part is cody's brother already lives there and so do two of our friends!  

how: two moves will complete this change.  one to an apartment and another into our new home.  a throwback to our college days only this time with a baby....and a dog.  what an adventure this will be/already has been!

when:  hopefully before the holiday season.  i'd be optimistic to think we'd be in by carson's first birthday but one can dream. 

goodbye scott street!  you've been good to us! 

summering

a county fair, carnival, boating, food and fireworks.  that pretty much sums up our weekend. a completely vanilla summer weekend.  ;o)

even if i had created a bucket list for this summer (which i usually do) i'm not even sure all of these things would have made it.  i mean, i can't remember the last time i actually went to a county fair or a carnival! truth is doing them meant not only more firsts for carson but also a fun change of pace from most of our summer weekends.

here's the rundown:

friday night we cruised back to our hometown after work for the county fair.  we had snow cones and watched my brother demolish his $4k hobby car.  we were able to see lots of family, baby farm animals and tractors.  cody was excited, carson was ambivalent.  what more could a grown man ask for?!  hehe.

i woke up the next day for an early morning hair appointment with my sister in law then we headed back north for an afternoon of boating.  the weather has been perfect for the water so getting out on the weekends has been priority.  we invited my mom along and some of our close friends and made an afternoon of it.  once we had sufficiently freckled we called it quits.   

that evening cody and i ventured out to the local summerfest celebration.  just the two of us.  it's been months since we've been able to do that.  we walked the carnival, ate food truck fare and even rode the ferris wheel.  according to cody you haven't lived until you've had fried cheese curds with ketchup.  according to cody you also haven't lived until you've nearly died on a rickety, carny ferris wheel.  afterward we met up with adam and liz for drinks and some music.  it was so. much. fun.  i just love those two! 

 

sunday we lounged.  NOT!  that's what i wanted to do.  no, no, no.  but, we did have donuts!  more on sunday's activities next week.  

our weekend ended with a fireworks show.  the best seat in the house is the one on our roof.  carson slept through it all.  

happy summer!

photo every hour: independence day 2016

it's back to reality after a full three day weekend! 
between boating, eating, catching up with friends, traveling, teething, and parade going we are spent.  

after getting back from a couple days on the mississippi we decided to hit up the fourth of july parade in a neighboring city and spend a low key afternoon at home. 
exactly what we needed!
by the time nine o'clock rolled around we were ready to sleep, allie included.  

the only thing that would have made it better would have been to watch a fireworks show but, we'll do that this weekend. ;o) 

hope everyone had a fantastic holiday!  

seven am

eight am

nine am

ten am

 

eleven am

twelve pm

one pm

two pm

three pm

four pm

five pm

six pm

seven pm

eight pm

nine pm

i love traveling but i hate the laundry!  carson's pile seemed far more manageable than ours and actually fit in the camera lens.

was carson not the cutest kid at the parade?!  he loved the sirens and cars but wasn't a fan of the water guns.  

we visited uncle matt and caitlyn and toured their new house.

i made a massive target run - solo. 

made patriotic popcorn.

walked the babes.

gave allie a bath (ok, so cody did). 

and then sank into the couch to watch the bachelorette - am i the only one who was disappointed it was a rerun?! #teamjordan or #teamluke - the jury is still out.