Five months, Baby!

Carson, time is going by so fast!  You started this month by getting your two front teeth in and now you are flipping back and forth from your front to your back!  You started making new faces, and your personality is really coming through. You laugh so much when we throw you in the air.  You talk to yourself a lot, especially when you are riding in your carseat.  Peek-a-boo is one of your favorite games.  Your hair is getting thick.  Today, you waited until it was quiet and let out a whole lot of gas at church and everyone that heard couldn't help but laugh.  Everyday I look at you and feel such joy.  I get a sense of how our Father delights in us, and I truly delight in you, my baby.  We love you so much!

I love that smile!  You are such a happy baby!

You are still not a huge fan of baths, but you are starting to splash around!  My chunky baby!

As much as I love your face, I love this sight!  I love watching you play and learn.  I also love that little bald spot on the back of your head!

My boys in their plaid!  Just like daddy! So handsome!

You like to practice walking!

You love giving Mommy lots of kisses!

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!

Carson, you turned four months old right at Christmas and what an amazing present you are!  You are flipping over like a champ and getting so frustrated that you can't crawl yet!  I have a feeling that when you do learn to crawl or walk, you will be all over the place.  You started getting exceptionally fussy, drooling like you were trying to fill a lake and chewing on everything you could get your hands on!  Around New Year's I felt your first tooth! The second one came out the very next day.  Oy!  You have had a rough time teething and it is making you wake up four to five times a night.  We have relied heavily on Tylenol and a vanilla scented teether that I like to refer to as your "chew toy."  You are able to sit in your bouncers and play (sometimes independently!) for short amounts of time.  At your four month appointment, you weighed 21 lbs and were 27 3/4 in long! You are slowly moving towards that 100th percentile, but right now you are still above that curve!  We love you more and more each day! 

 This is a video taken from our phone, but for Christmas we received a nice camcorder to capture fun moments like these!  We love to hear you laugh!

Holiday Treats!

I love making new and fun things for the holidays for people!  I went out on a limb a little this year with some creations, but I think they worked out well! For our neighbors I made s'more marshmallows!  I love making homemade marshmallows!  They taste so much better than store bought ones!  I used Ina Garten's recipe, but I wanted to spruce it up and make it fun for the kids.  Plus, what adult doesn't like s'mores??  I like making the individual marshmallows, but it is way messier this way.  First I used mini muffin cups with foil liners (don't use paper because the marshmallows will never come out!).  I sprayed baking spray in them and dusted them with powdered sugar so the marshmallows would come out easily.

I then filled the bottom of the cups with graham cracker crumbs and put a baking sheet on top and shook the muffin tray so the crumbs would stick to the sides of the foil.

Then I made the yummy marshmallows!  It's like fluff before it sets. 

 You have to scoop out the marshmallow quickly because it sets fast.  Then I wanted the marshmallows to have that toastiness about them, so I put them under the broiler for a few minutes.

 Lastly, I broke the Hershey bar into pieces and put them in the sides.  I wanted to put them on the top of the marshmallow, but of course I would really have to break the top of the toasty marshmallow to put the chocolate on top.  I think next time I will press the chocolate inside the marshmallow before I broil it.  They came out so cute and so good!! I think these would be good all year round!

 

I have been hearing awesome things about the chocolate and bacon craze.  I was dying to try it out, so when I was invited to a Cookie Exchange I thought it was the perfect time to test it.  Hey, if it flopped then there were hundreds of other cookies to munch on!(Also, I was told to bring 3 dozen cookies- I barely have time to bathe, much less make 3 dozen cookies.)  Chocolate bark takes no time to make and even less effort.  I baked a package of bacon on cookie cooling racks with a cookie sheet under it, so I could get nice crispy bacon and the fat dripped off.  I chopped the bacon in small pieces.  Then I melted a bag of dark chocolate morsels in a double boiler.  I mixed 2/3 of the bacon and some slivered almonds in the chocolate, spread it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and sprinkled the rest of the bacon on top.  I put that in the fridge to harden.  I did the same thing with a bag of milk chocolate morsels.  I think the dark chocolate tasted the best.  I loved the sweet, salty and smokey flavors.  I think next time I will cut the bacon in bigger pieces and just sprinkle it on top instead of mixing it in.  It was so good!

 

Dark chocolate Almond and Bacon Bark! Yum!

My last new creation for the holiday was an Eggnog Cheesecake for my dad.  He loves eggnog with bourbon, and I thought a cheesecake would pair perfectly with the sweet, smooth eggnog.  I found a recipe with great reviews and it turned out heavenly!  It wasn't a dense mouthful of baked cream cheese.  It was so creamy, almost like a pudding.  I added 3 tbsp of bourbon into the cake, but you couldn't taste it.  Next time I'll add more:)  I decorated with nutmeg on top.  I also added cinnamon and nutmeg to the crust.  I think it would be awesome with some spiked whipped cream!  I baked it in a water bath as well and no cracking!  It was so good that my dad made sure he gave me back my spring form pan before I left so next time I see him I can bring another cheesecake!

(This is not my picture, but it looked exactly like this!)

Christmas in Captions

 Christmas with a little one is so much fun!  We are so excited to start our own family traditions with Carson, but this Christmas we decided to spend one last Christmas in Richmond at our parents' houses.  Carson saw more friends and family than I think we did!  So much love!  Our Christmas was filled with family and friend time, lots of food and more food, and a gratefulness for all that we have.

Christmas Eve, Jeff's parents have a Christmas party for friends and family.  We loved that Jeb and Rachel, our friends who recently moved to Charlotte, could visit with us for a little while!  I so miss them being in Hampton Roads!

Carson put himself under the Christmas tree!  BEST. PRESENT. EVER!

Add caption

Carson had the biggest piles of presents out of everyone...but guess what he liked the most?  Wrapping paper:)

Me and my little elf on Christmas morning at my dad's!

One of the best things about this break was that we got to rest and relax as a family

Carson loves his Uncle Johnny!  My bro moved to a new apartment, so we got to go visit.  I love Richmond and all its character.

Happy boy in his new toys!  He loves being able to play upright!

Can't get enough of that smile!

Bethany, one of my all-time favorite people, drove down to meet Carson!

Beth was one of my housemates in college and maid of honor.  I am rooting for California to give her back to the east coast!

Uncle Johnny got Carson a Mickey suit!

So high!

Our little family by the tree!

Our Christmas card/birth announcement!

Date Night!

Carson's 13 week birthday celebration didn't include him. Although we love our little man to pieces we needed some time for the two of us. I was excited for an occasion to wear more than sweats and a T-shirt with spit up on it.  AND I finally am fitting back into my clothes! We went to a very nice restaurant called The Vintage Tavern.  It was beautiful and lodge like inside.  So cozy!  Jeff commented almost halfway through the dinner that we were able to talk about other things other than Carson for about 45 minutes.  Oh, how our lives have changed with this little man! It was so nice to just sit and be and not have to feed him while we're trying to eat dinner.  We would love to try to go out just the two of us at least once a month.  A great thing was that I didn't feel guilty at all for leaving him.  One, I knew he was in good hands with Pops!  And secondly, I crave alone time with my husband.  It has been an adjustment for everyone with me staying at home with C-man and Jeff starting a new position and working some longer hours.  I believe we are better parents when we take time to spend on our marriage.  I am so grateful for my husband.  He is an amazing man and a wonderful father.  I can't get enough of both our family time and "mommy and daddy time."

Vintage Tavern in Suffolk

Thanksgiving Traditions

This post somehow was deleted three times! Since I don't have that much time to write and I was thoroughly annoyed that I had to keep writing the same things over, I just left it for a while.  Fourth time's a charm, right? Determined to post before Christmas!

This is the second Thanksgiving in our house and our fourth married Thanksgiving, so we are starting to form patterns for the holidays.  These patterns somewhere along the way are then deemed traditions.  Our new little family has just a few traditions that happen around Thanksgiving.  First, we watch Elf while decorating our Christmas tree!  Watching Elf is the start to the holiday season!

"Buddy the Elf!  What's your favorite color?"

Hubs has a specific way of putting the lights on the tree, so I let him to that and I am in charge of "fluffing" our fake branches.

Maverick then does his part and takes off the bottom third of the decorations

Hubs love decorating the outside too, which is wonderful because usually it's cold outside= no fun.

Our next "tradition" that was started last year was that we hosted Thanksgiving at our house for both our families.  Everyone brings a little something and we FEAST! I was a little frazzled having been sick the week leading up to Thanksgiving, trying to clean the house and prepare four guest rooms.  Guess my sleep deprivation is to blame for zesting a grapefruit into the cranberry sauce instead of an orange! We had so much fun with all of the family (missing Aunt Sharon and Megs!).  Looks like this tradition is here to stay!

This was their pregame:)

My centerpieces were inspired from a DIY off Pinterest.  Cranberries and floating candles!

That Carson!  He's such a talker!

Finally got to meet Aunt Peggy!

Carson at 3 months!

You're growing so much!  I can't believe how much you are learning and doing!  You can hold your head up pretty well.  You have lots of conversations with me and your daddy.  You are grabbing your toys and can hold on and shake them.  Boy, you have a strong grip!  You have started to roll over! I went to the kitchen for two seconds a few days ago, and I heard you grunting.  You had rolled over onto your stomach.  You keep rolling onto your side now and can't figure out how to get that arm out from under you.  I think you'll get it soon!  I don't think that I am ready for what rolling over leads to, but we are so proud of you!  You smile at me and your dad as soon as you see us.  You make my heart fill with joy just being with you.  You love to be held after you eat- and you still eat a lot!  You still wake up every two to three hours to eat.  Come on, baby!  Momma needs her sleep!  You are such an easy going and happy baby and love everyone around you.  You've only had one tantrum so far (at a church dinner, which was not ideal timing, Sweetheart), and the only thing that would quiet you was when your daddy held you.  You love looking at lights and out windows.  You will start fussing when you get in the car, but once we get moving you usually fall asleep- except if there are stoplights.  You do not like stop lights.  I just had to put your 3-6 month clothes away because you don't fit in them anymore.  Only 6 months to 12 months will fit!  You are 19 1/2 lbs.  You have more rolls than I can count! I am afraid that you are going to grow out of your baby things before you grow out of being a baby! Lastly, you have learned to passify yourself with your thumb.  We are so proud of all you are doing and love watching you grow!  We have loved every day of the last three months with you!!