Carson meets Santa!

Today James and I took Carson to meet Santa at the mall... He loved him :) And we love this picture... Priceless!

1/2 a year

It's so hard to believe that this guy:

Has already turned into this guy:

Carson has been in our lives for 1/2 of a year today and I can't imagine what our lives would be like with out him in it. He makes us smile a million times a day and he really does keep getting cuter. The kid is growing like a weed, a really pretty weed that you want to pick up a take home. He loves to stand up with some help, and he's been sitting up by himself for a few seconds, but we feel like by Christmas he'll have it down! Carson has been eating, and loving, fruits and veggies! So far he's eating sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, carrots, pears, bananas, apples, and cereal. We're looking forward to starting some new things this week like squash and mangoes! We go back to the doctor this week for his 6 month well visit, where Carson will get shots :( James is planning on going with us this time and I'm sooooo glad! Everyone has been asking if Carson has teeth. The answer, is no. We feel like they've got to be coming soon. The kid drools ALL of the time, and constantly has something in his mouth! Tonight we laid him down for bed around 8:45ish and just a minute ago (9:40ish) we were in the living room watching football, and blogging, when we heard him screaming. We ran in to get him (because it was very unlike him) and we really couldn't get him to stop crying. He cried for a solid 5 minutes. We changed diapers, tried songs, rocking, his teether, the whole bit. We kind of felt like it was his teeth, or gums for lack thereof, so we rubbed a little Ora-gel on the gums and gave him a dose of Tylenol. After a mini bottle and some cuddling he was back asleep. We're a little nervous that tonight might be that night. The night he's up and down crying and nobody gets any sleep. We haven't experienced this night yet....Has our good luck run out?

Carson's 6 month recap

Deck the Halls...

I know...I said I wasn't posting Christmas tree picture until AFTER Thanksgiving but I just couldn't wait :) haha The tree looks so pretty and sparkly, especially with all of the presents underneath! I just had to share :) Carson is still enjoying the tree! He loves to have his saucer right by it so he can check it out while he plays! We are REALLY looking forward to our first Christmas with the little man. We're hoping he's sitting up by then. We feel like he's getting close :) but he is still pretty wobbly and tends to just fold in half. haha If the child would keep his fingers out of his mouth for a minute he might realize he can use them to hold himself up! haha

I must admit... I'm on top of my Christmas game this year. The house is decorated, inside and out, our shopping is nearly completed (only 4 gifts left to buy), everything is wrapped (except for Carson's gifts from Santa of course), our Christmas cards have been ordered, and Carson's stocking is finished and hanging on the mantle :) However, I'm sad to say that I won't be out in the Black Friday madness this year. I wont be out in the craziness for several reasons: I'm nearly done with my shopping, I probably don't "need" the things that are on sale anyways, I get up early everyday anyways, and we will be in Mt. Vernon visiting some of James' friends :) So, to everyone who IS rolling out of bed during the wee hours of the morning on Friday...Good luck and happy shopping :)

Holiday preparations...

Whew, it's been a busy couple of weeks in the Harper house! Last Thursday Carson and I headed to Owensboro to host a baby shower for Elizabeth. We had a blast but we really wish the hubs could have gone with us! Of course Carson got all duded up for the big party! I have to say he looked pretty freakin' cute in his grey hounds-tooth sweater vest :) Don't you think so?

Once we got back to the "Show me state" we had LOTS to do... There was laundry, baby food that needed to be made, shopping that needed to be done, Carson's stocking that needed to be finished, and a house to decorate for Christmas! Well, when we moved in we let our movers take our old Christmas tree because it was just a 6 foot one, to small for our new big place! So, a couple weeks ago James let me buy a new one. I decided that since we have such high ceilings we'd need a 9 foot tree! Found it, bought it, brought it home, and put it up only to find that it was too tall. Our ceiling in the living room are vaulted. Therefore, in order for it to fit well it had to be scooted away from the wall to much. Sooooo I took down the 9 foot tree, boxed it back up (somehow managing to get in back in the box with no problems...Yeah, it was a miracle I know.), and today we need to return it. Tuesday I went out tree shopping AGAIN, this time for a 7 1/2 footer :) Of course I found the perfect tree...again. haha Brought it home, put it up, and decorated it! It looks perfect, and I love it :) But I have to say... I think Carson loves it more than me! haha When he looks at it his little eyes just light up, and he gets a huge grin on his face. That look made the whole two tree debacle totally worth it!

I know its a wee-bit early to be putting up the tree anyways, so I will spare you the pictures until the day after Thanksgiving when it's officially "legal" to have it up! haha Plus, I haven't taken any yet :) When I got home last Sunday I somehow talked James into putting up the Christmas lights. James wasn't thrilled about putting them up especially when I told him where I wanted them! haha After all, it was quite a dangerous task. While on the roof James says down to me, "If I slide off don't try to catch me, just let me fall and break my leg." I think I replied with something like, "Uhh, OK honey, but you need to pull them a little tighter over there." haha He says he risked his life to put them up... I might have to agree! Every good hubby, and daddy, risk their life to decorate their family's house at Christmas right? It's just part of the job.

Carson and I were safe on the ground :)

This week will be a short week with Thanksgiving and all! On Wednesday we are heading to Benton to spend the holiday with the Harper's :) We can't wait!!! On our way home Friday we are stopping by James' old stomping grounds, the big city of Mt. Vernon, IL to see a few of his friends, and more importantly, to show off our main man (Who, by the way, will be 6 months old in one week... Can you believe it?)!

He did it...And I caught it!

And of course I had my phone turned the wrong way :(
I tried to then get him doing it again, back to tummy...This is what I got


Love this guy.

A weekend of firsts...

Since we've moved in James, Carson, and I have only had a few weekend here at home by ourselves. Last weekend was one of them and we filled it with all kinds of fun things :) James had the day off on Friday so we even got an extra day to hang out! On Thursday afternoon while Skyping with my parents Carson FINALLY showed some interest in rolling over! He was laying on his tummy chatting with Granny and Pops when he started to tuck in his little arm, and lift up his leg...It was like SUPER slow motion but he did it.... Two times in a row he rolled over from his tummy to his back :) It was SO cute and I'm so glad that someone else got to see it. Of course I tried getting him to do it again for James but I guess he was too tired... Thursday night we went out and bought a ceiling fan for Carson's room (when we bought the house there was no overhead light at all...and electrician comes today to do the wiring), and coach lights for either side of the garage (the wiring for those is being done today too). So... this afternoon we will have LIGHT! Yay! Thursday night was quite chilly so Carson got to wear his first sock-cap for our late night trip to Lowe's!Friday we spent some time doing a few things around here and then we went out to buy our first Christmas tree for the new house :) Of course with our TALL ceilings we needed a tall tree :) So we got a really pretty tall skinny tree! James was almost excited as I was. ha. I'm pretty sure I wont be able to wait until after Thanksgiving to put it up. I'm guessing it will be up early next week :) We ran several other errands Friday too, one being getting my new license plate...
There is just something about a Missouri plate that makes me smile, no offense Oklahoma or Minnesota. So, I guess you could say, Yes Missouri, YEO M2U (Yea-I'm-in-2-U). So, it's a stretch but hey, its pretty close :)

Lets see... It seems like there was some kind of a "first" on Saturday but I can't think of it. Oh, yeah... I played my first game of Spades! Some old friends of James' came over and we all played. It was super fun and I can't wait to play again!

Sunday however might be the best "first" of the weekend...We met our friends Jon and Beth at Jilly's Cupcake Bar for our very first Jilly's cupcake. Oh. My. Gosh. Yum. Yum. Yum. I could try to explain the yummy goodness with my words but it just wouldn't do it justice.
Yeah, they pretty much taste as good as they look. I can not wait to go back. It's a perfect place to take an "out-of-towner"! So, our next house-guests will for sure be treated to Jilly's :) Don't you all knock down our door at once.

We ended our fun weekend with carrots. What? How do you go from cupcakes to carrots you ask? Well, that would be because our little man got to eat carrots for dinner Sunday night! He loved them :) Can you tell?

A Spooktacular Day!

This year we got to spend Halloween with some of our favorite people :) We spent Saturday night in Bowling Green with our friends Travis and Cheryl, and their little one Kolton! They hadn't met Carson yet so that was super fun :) On Sunday morning my parents hosted a little Halloween Brunch at their house. The food was yummy, but Carson & his cousin Stella stole the show :) Why? Because they were in their cute costumes of course! In my post the other day I gave you a hint... Sooo what's white, wears a hat, and says, "He-Heee"?

Well, the Pillsbury Doughboy of course

This costume is SO fitting, considering James works at a flour mill and sells flour to Pillsbury!

I loved the simplicity of this outfit! It was perfect for a baby. I bought him a plain white sleeper from the Gap, that of course he can wear over and over again. Then I bought a yard of white flannel material and made his little hat. I sewed on a blue circle, wrote Pillsbury on it, and then finished the outfit off with an extra piece of the flannel tied around his neck. Wha-la The Pillsbury Doughboy!Apparently Stella thought he looked pretty cute too... She just couldn't quit kissing him! haha SO cute :)All in all, I think Carson's first Halloween was a success!

Big Man on Campus

Yes, that would be our little guy...surrounded by the ladies. This past Saturday we took Carson to Western's Homecoming :) James and I were super excited to show off the little guy to some of our college friends! We started the day visiting the KD House, and of course all of the young sorority girls were LOVING this guy :) And Carson was working it. Flashing that gummy grin at all of the pretty girls. Hilarious. After visiting the house Carson caught a quick nap, we had some lunch, then it was off to tailgating. It was a beautiful day and it was soooo fun to share Carson with our friends :)