Happy Easter!

"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." - John 11:25-26

3 McDaniel BOYS!!

Can I just say that I hate teeth.  I try not to "hate" anything, but I can't think of another word to express my strong dislike for teeth.  Specifically baby teeth.  Carter has been running a low-grade fever all day and is generally Fussy McFusserson.  Blek!!

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It only took us 3 months, but we finally got Mason, Carter and Graeme together in one place! Between Graeme's surgeries and hospital stay and Carter's RSV the boys were never around each other since Graeme was born.  Sadface.

Nana and PawPaw were in grandson Heaven with everyone under one roof.  I think I ended the night with over 100 pictures on my camera, lol.  It was St Patricks Day, hence the green get-ups.

Hanging with PawPaw

What's this grass stuff I'm sitting on??

 Let me look at this a little closer...

Hmmm...I think I'll take a bite out of this

I don't think he looks like either of us

 

These two certainly remind me of each other

I got to hold Graeme for the first time on Sunday!  How is it that I have already forgotten how small newborns are?!? This totally made me want another baby...haha! Just not the round-the-clock feedings. I love this little boy! He made me one happy auntie :)

All the babies.  I love how Mason is hugging his little brother! 

Entire family.  Now Mason is holding Carter's hand! I melt. 

PawPaw and Nana with their grandbabies.  I don't know who is happier...Carter or PawPaw!! 

So glad to have all of our boys together...finally! I just so excited everything worked out for Robby and Stephanie in regards to Tulsa and Graeme and all of our boys get to grow up together.  The next 20 years are sure to be crazy, but I wouldn't want it any other way.  

NOLA!

Still playing catch-up...

So Sara and Randy's wedding is this weekend! Ohhh eeeekk!! I'm so excited!  I've finalized Carter's outfits for the rehearsal dinner and wedding and, oh em gee, he is going to be just dashing.  I'm melting just thinking about how cute he will be, hehe!

In preparation for the big day we took Sara to New Orleans a few weekends ago for her bachelorette party! Woo hoo! Months ago I was honestly dreading this trip because it would be my first weekend away from Carter, but it could not have gone better.  The week Carter spent with Nana and PawPaw while I was in the hospital with Daddy really helped, especially since this was only for 2 nights.  I was a little anxious since Matt was in Lake Charles with Randy's bachelor party, but all went smoothly and I'm sure Carter didn't even notice we were gone.

The girls left Friday afternoon and rolled into NOLA around 1am.  Y'all, I haven't seen 1am in ages, but in NOLA 1am is like noon.  We checked-in, changed clothes and hit the town until the wee morning hours.  After napping sleeping for a little while we hit the town again for lunch, shopping and exploring.

 
That night we regrouped, showered Sara with some gifts and went to Palace Cafe for dinner.  It was just downstairs from our hotel, which was nice, and we had reserved the wine room so we dinned by ourselves.  We loved our waiter, Lloyd, and had the best drinks and food I've had in a looooong time.

We hit the town again after dinner but the time change cut out an hour of fun and a few of us headed back early (before 4am.)  Haha! The rest of the crew made it in just before we were about to get up to get ready to leave.  So glad I headed home early since I was driving home on Sunday!

We had a blast and I just love New Orleans.  Matt and I are talking about going this summer with Carter and a few friends.  Matt is just dying to go to the WWII Museum so we will see if we can fit in his summer schedule.  I would love to go back and eat beignets!

Carter's First Haircut

One of my handsome boys got his hair cut this weekend!  I'll give you a hint...it wasn't Matt and it wasn't Cooper :)

After his hair falling out at 4 months it has come back full force and was getting long in some places.  He has a really nice part and the top is just perfect, but the sides were sort of hanging over his ears a little.  I kept catching myself brushing it behind his ears so we finally decided to go ahead and get it cut before the wedding this weekend.

Matt and I were worried he would absolutely freak out, but he actually did so good!  We took him to a place that specialized in kids cuts, so he sat in a firetruck seat and got to watch a DVD during the cut.  It was a little expensive, so I'm hoping that by the next time he needs a cut I can do it myself (I cut Matt's hair).  But I'm so glad we did it because we got some precious pictures and they made us a special gift with the hair they cut off.

His tips were darker than his roots so I think he looks a little blonder than before!

I love the picture where he's holding onto the steering wheel of the seat.  So cute!  And here is the final product:

Have you ever seen anyone more handsome than my little boy?!?  Precious! Love him!

A Day in the Life: 9 Months

Really, this is 9.5 months thanks to my maxing out my storage on my iPhone and not being able to take any pictures.  Wahh! Also, I wanted to wait for a "normal" day and since Matt was on spring break last week I waited until this week.  Mondays are usually pretty normal.  

5:30- Carter wakes up, what?!?  He NEVER gets up this early, thank goodness.  I can feel all 4 canines coming through so I'm assuming we are about to enter teething hell.  I rock him for a few minutes and then bring him to our bed once Matt is up for work.

7:00- Carter starts crawling around the bed so we are UP for the day! I'll forgive the kick to the stomach he gave me ;)  Change diaper, nurse, rock and he spends his time crawling around exploring the house and pulling up where he can.

7:45- Mama needs coffee so we move to the kitchen and Carter plays in his high chair while I brew a cup of joe, heat up his oatmeal and fix our breakfasts.  Oatmeal, yogurt, nectarines and part of a bagel for him.  Coffee, milk and a bagel with cream cheese for me.  We split a banana, but he mashes up and plays with more than he eats.

8:30- More play time.  Carter tries to pull-up on the stool of the glider and smashes his face on the wood part.  Thankfully, I don't think it's going to leave a mark.  He cheers himself up quickly and plays with his footballs and then in the jumper for awhile.

9:00- Naptime for Carter Man and showertime for Mama.

10:15- He's up! He slept for an hour and fifteen minutes! Praise the Good Lord! Diaper change, new clothes for baby and more playtime for Carter.  He's very into holding onto our hands and "walking" around the house or crawling after us as fast as he can to "catch" us.  He still would much rather play with me than play independently.

11:00- Nurse, pack diaper bag, make grocery list

11:30- Leave for our Monday errands.  Today's list includes a drive thru Sonic for a Cherry Limeade (I gave up Diet Coke for Lent and this is my new go-to drink), bank, dry cleaners and grocery store.  We get it all done in a little over an hour!  Carter falls asleep in the car while we are pulling in the neighborhood, booooo.

1:00- Lunchtime! Fruit puree, toast and cheese for Carter, egg salad sandwich and cheese crackers for me (with my yummy Cherry Limeade)

1:45- Carter plays while I clean the kitchen and get the groceries put away.  Carter discovers the inside of the refrigerator and thinks it's the best thing.

2:30- Nurse and down for a nap.  He is not having it and cries for almost 30 minutes before he finally falls asleep.

4:20- He's up! Another good(ish) nap today.  I hope I don't jinx it but I *think* we are making progress in the nap department (more on that later.)  He was so sweet after his nap just cuddling and laying in my arms.  So sweet!  He discovers some of his "push" toys and we spend some time cruising around the playroom and he has the biggest smile on his face the entire time.

4:45- Daddy's home early and we pack up and drop by Mama K's house.  Daddy does some stuff for Mama K around the house and we show off our new skills to Mama K, Aunt Laura and Brooks.  Those two cousins are about to really start having fun playing together!

5:45- Head to dinner at Willie's.  We usually eat at home during the week but I had a coupon for a free entree from my birthday so we made an exception tonight.  The weather was gorgeous tonight so we were able to sit on the porch, my favorite way to dine :)  At the grocery store today I picked up some new strawberry baby yogurt and he absolutely devours it.  I think we have a new favorite food!

7:00- Arrive home and kiss Daddy goodnight.  Diaper, pj's, bible story, nurse and go to sleep.  I want to remember how sweet he was tonight just snuggling in the crook of my neck and giggling when he would sit up and look at me.  I melt.

Mason's 2nd Birthday

Playing a little catch-up...

Saturday, March 2 Mason turned TWO YEARS OLD!! I cannot believe that little peanut, who took his sweet time to get here, is already 2!! Wow! And to think that this year he became a big brother...all of this just blows my mind.  I feel like time is flying by so quickly...next thing I know Mason, Carter and Graeme are all going to be driving, going to prom and leaving for college.  Tear!

Steph and Rob had a small party to celebrate and I'm so thankful I got to go this year.  Last year was my first full day on strict bedrest, so this totally beats that! I'm still bummed I missed his first birthday :( Carter was still holding onto his RSV so he stayed at home with Mama K.

Anyone who knows Mason knows he loves him a tractor, and when he opened his presents it was tractor after tractor! And they were all different! Matt was pumped to pick out Mason's gift this year and got him a truck, boat, jet ski and 4-wheeler toy from Bass Pro.

Happy birthday, Mase Mase! We love you! 

Luck 'O the Irish

Yesterday was a perfect day with both of my boys, beautiful weather, and great food.  I'm so thankful for all the blessings in my life and am trying to focus on what I have rather than what I'm missing and wishing I had back.

Love this.

1,825 days

We've been married 5 years! I'm not sure if it's really 1,825 or 1,826 days because of leap year, but I really don't care either way.  By now we've officially been together for longer than we've been apart, and we're only 28/29 years old.  That's crazy! To think that I was telling my friends at 14-years old that I would marry Matt...guess I was a little bit psychic (and a lot in love!)

This last year has definitely been the best, albeit hardest, year of marriage we've had.  Throwing a baby in the mix grew my love for Matt exponentially.  There is absolutely no better feeling than looking at your husband holding his son in the hospital...literally watching them fall in love with each other.  I will never, ever forget that feeling while I watched that father/son bond form.  And now to see them together, laughing at each other and just having the best time becoming friends...it's truly what has gotten me through this last month.  I simply cannot imagine our lives without Carter in them.

We're celebrating tonight with a fancy dinner at Sullivan's while Mama Jo and Auntie Carol babysit.  Whoo hoo!!  So much different than our anniversary last year. :)

Matty,
Always and forever.

4 years
3 years
2 years
1 year

Carter: 9 Months

Monkey,
You are NINE MONTHS old today! Three-fourths of a year! Talk about downward slope to your year birthday, you are almost there, buddy! You have officially been with us on the outside longer than you were with us on the inside.  It's funny how it seems like you have been here forever, yet at the same time it just feels like I've blinked and now you are grown.  I'm afraid the next time I blink you will be getting married.  *sob*

I feel like we have been cheated out of an entire month together because of what happened with your Daddy J this month.  We started the month off with your first overnight trip at Nana and PawPaw's, and then suddenly you spent over a week with them while I was at the hospital with Daddy J.  I haven't been wanting to leave you overnight, but your Auntie Sara and Nana have been insisting that we do a few trials runs of overnight trips before I have to leave you next weekend to go to New Orleans for your Auntie Sara's bachelorette party.  If it weren't for everyone being so pushy I truthfully wouldn't have left you overnight! It ended up being a moot point since I had to suddenly be unavailable to you as you were not allowed in the ICU and I caught a nasty stomach virus all at the same time.  And without missing a beat you lived a week of your life without Mama.  Sigh...you slept through the night, you took bottles like a champ and ate everything in sight while you were at Nana's.  I'm so, SO thankful that you have grandparents so close by that can come and just take care of you without hesitation.  They have an even bigger job now since we lost your Daddy J, but it's a job I know they will do well.

Besides everything that happened with Daddy J we have had an "off" month.  I feel like you have been sick ever since your bronchiolitis back in December, and this month has been awful.  You ran your first high fever (103.7) and scared me and your Daddy to death.  Your fever hung out, on and off, for a few days and now it's RSV.  Your cough has brought back the breathing treatments and I swear you produce more snot than any other human being alive.  You have been fuss pot extrordinaire, and just seem like you are always tired and feeling bad.  I'm ready to figure out what's wrong and get you healthy!

On a better note, you are officially crawling!! You have been pretty mobile all month, mostly rolling and scooting around to where you want to be.  But I'd say it officially transitioned to a true crawl late last week.  You still do a combo scoot-crawl-hop some of the time, but you can get across a room like no other.  You never sit still anymore and are happy to just explore rooms wherever we put you down.  And you can pull yourself to sitting from your belly!  I first caught this new trick on the monitor and saw you sitting up in your crib, and now you do it after about every 30 seconds of crawling.  You are so much fun now that you can get to where you want to go.

You also have a mouthful of teeth.  It's hard to keep up but you currently have 8 teeth,  4 bottom and 4 on the top. *Knock on wood* I think we are past the biting stage, thanks be to God.  Occasionally you will gnaw on our chins but I can't remember the last time you truly bit one of us.  Keep it up!

Our biggest setback this month has been your naps.  Buddy boy...you are one strong-willed child (you get that from your mother.)  I don't know if you are too busy to slow down, or too nosy to miss anything, but getting you to go down, and stay down, for a nap is the hardest thing I have ever done.  You are really good about going down for your morning nap, but sleep only about 20-40 minutes and are ready to get back up.  About once a week you give me about an hour morning nap, but it's so rare you shock me everytime it happens.  You get tired around 12:30 for your afternoon nap but fight it as hard as you possibly can, sometimes refusing to go down.  Again, you sleep about 20-40 minutes and are back up, but usually this time you are really fussy and crying.  I KNOW you are still tired and could really benefit from more sleep because you sometimes fall right back to sleep if I go in and rock you.  Other times you just push through the exhaustion and decide to cry/fuss for the rest of the day.  It's emotionally draining dealing with such poor sleep habits and such a fussy baby all the time.  I've dusted off my Ferber book and am trying all the sleep training I can muster, but you might be more stubborn than me, if possible.  Dr K told us today that a lot could be due to the medications you are on and the virus, so that makes me feel a little better.  I'm hopeful that once we are past the RSV you will go back to sleeping in 1+ hour chunks and getting the rest you so desperately need.

In the same breath, your nighttime sleep is amazing.  You have finally dropped your early morning nursing session and sleep 7pm until 7-8am.  Ahh! *Insert angels singing*  You go down so easily at night and sometimes even fall asleep before you can finish nursing, if you have missed your afternoon nap.  I love peeking in on you on the monitor to see how you are sleeping because you roll all over your crib and always are posed in the funniest positions.

Napping at home...never.  Napping in the Target cart...yes, please

You are eating just about anything we give you.  You still get oatmeal, yogurt and a fruit for breakfast.  We've started giving you fruit chunks instead of purees and you love playing with all of your food.  Lunch is always hit-or-miss and the meal you most often refuse.  I just don't think you are hungry enough for 3 meals, but when you do eat lunch is usually a fruit combo, your favorite being apples, bananas and pears.  Dinner is a veggie and/or meat option, with lots of bread options (tortillas, roll, crackers, cheerios, toast) thrown in.  You have also tried cheese, potatoes, sweet potatoes and chicken and love anything you can put into your hands.  I probably won't make any more purees for you as you are really liking "real" food.

You still are holding out on your real first word.  You still babble and sing all day long to us, and really have started "responding" to us when we talk to you.  I feel like sometimes we have conversations back-and-forth because you talk when it's your turn and are silent when we talk, but have yet to really make any words.  You still say "mamamamama" all the time, but I'm hesitant to really count it as a word since you don't stop at "Mama" and don't realize what it means.  You really save up a lot of your talking to when we read together, that's when we hear most of what you have to say.  You LOVE to read with us and just babble whenever there is a book open in front of you.

Monkey, we are so in love with you and just adore your precious personality.  It breaks my heart that you have already lost someone who is such an important part of your little life, but I am so thankful that you still have 3 grandparents here to love on you.  You have truly gotten me through the hardest month of my life with your big smile and happy heart.  I love every single part of you and wish you could stay 9 months forever.  I love you forever, little boy.

9 Month Stats:

Weight: 19 pounds, 15 ounces (42%)

Length: 28.25 inches (54%)

Eating: nursing around 7:00am, 11:00am, 3:00pm and 7:00pm

Bedtime: around 7:30pm

Awake: between 7:00 - 8:00am

Naps: around 9:00am, 12:30pm, and 4:30pm...or none at all

Diapers: size 3 Huggies

Clothes: 9 months

Favorites: moving independently, your red race car, chewing on your toothbrush, eating food on your own
Dislikes: being put into your carseat, not being able to reach a toy, Mama taking a toy/item away, napping

Development: crawling, getting to sitting from laying, plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo, separation anxiety when away from Mama