Smile!

Carter smiling at his new best friend Ferguson.

3 years and 2 months!!!

Wednesday was our 3 year anniversary! Hooray! We took Carter to Wednesday night market and had a great time together. It has been the best 3 years of my life.

Yes Carter is in there. He fell asleep as we walked around downtown.

Tomorrow Carter will be 2 months old! I cannot believe he is already 2 months! He is growing fast and getting super strong. He will be standing before we know it. Here are some things that have come with his 2 month birthday:

smiles! He has been smiling a lot and reacting to us more.

Caught in a half smile

sticking out his tongue

sleeping in his bassinet and for good chunks of time

growing out of some newborn clothes

making more sounds

looking at himself in the mirror and making faces

just being really cute

In other news:

I cut my hair and I feel so much more like myself. It's great. Dave signed up for orientation at the end of this month so we will be taking a trip to Utah. It will be interesting to fly there with Carter and for Dave and I to take our first flight together.

finally zzzZZZZZ...

The big news in our house is that Carter is finally sleeping longer than 2 hour increments! He usually sleeps from 11pm to 4am or from 1:30am to about 6:30am. Although I would like to get to sleep earlier than 1:30, I am still happy that he doesn't wake me up 5 times a night.

We are currently working on getting "social smiles" out of the little guy but for now it seems that he only smiles when he's about to fall asleep or sometimes when he's gassy. He is learning how to copy me when I stick out my tongue at him which is pretty cute.

We went to a BBQ at my brother's house yesterday which was a lot of fun. We met his new girlfriend (she seems really cool) and saw one of his friends who I used to refer to as my "asian brother". It was fun to see my family with Carter and to spend time away from the couch. We will definitely miss everyone when we move.

We had a surprise visit from Jeff and Rachelle the other day and look forward to spending some time with them this week.

We are planning a trip to Utah for Dave's U of U orientation which is June 30th. I have been emailing different apartment complexes and Dave continues to work on getting his student loans so we are getting closer to actually moving. It's pretty scary but exciting.

Update

It has definitely been a while since I've written, but I have not really had much time at the computer. Things are going good and our little Mann is finally growing. He weighed in last week at 8 lbs 9 oz. He still doesn't fit into all newborn clothes but he's grown out of preemie finally so that's good. He actually slept well last night and in his bassinet!!!! He still wakes up to eat about 3 times during the night but he's learning to fall back asleep quickly.

I had a doctor's appointment today and they say that there was a problem with the way I was healing from the stitches (I won't go into details) and they want to see me back in a few weeks. They say this is most likely why I am still in pain. Hopefully it will all resolve itself in a few weeks and until then I will just deal with it.

Carter at little Emanuel's 2nd Birthday party

Our buff little surfer! Check out those guns!

Carter loves his new swing!

Happy Mother's Day!!

One month old!

I cannot believe it has already been a month! The time sure flies when you're having fun!

Carter is being so good for mommy and laying in his bassinet!

Carter's first sleep over!

Tonight Carter and I will be sleeping over at the Whitelock's house with Katie and her baby Alexis. It should be fun I just hope he doesn't keep them up!

Highs and lows

This week has been full of ups and downs. Here are just a few:

The Highs:

• Carter has started recognizing faces and will look you in the eye for a short amount of time.


• He has been awake and alert more often.


• He's slept better at night the past three days.
  
• He smiles a lot in his sleep.


• He went to church for the first time and slept when we needed him to.


• He likes the car and primary music.


• He gets cuter everyday!

The Lows:

• We think he may have colic because he has fits and wants to eat for hours at a time.


• We accidentally made him pee on his face and the back of the seat while changing him in the car.


• He has a blocked tear duct


• His nose has been pretty stuffy.


• I got my first parking ticket because I had to nurse him and forgot about the meter.


• He's still not fitting into most newborn clothes.

All in all the good outweighs the bad and we are enjoying our little mann to the fullest.

Bath time!!!

Well, Carter had his first bath just minutes ago and I'm thinking he is not really a fan. Let's see if you all agree:

Photos!

Some of Carter's newborn pictures are on our photographer, Mariah's blog. They turned out so cute! http://www.mariahsmithblog.blogspot.com/

Thanks for my shirt Auntie Noelle!

Unfit mother?

Is your child in capable hands when you put your hooded sweatshirt on inside out and don't notice for several hours? Well, at least his clothes are on correctly...

Nothing quite like a good burping!

"Mommy's little all star"

He's getting cuter every day! He's finally fitting into some newborn clothes! Yeah!

Silly boy!

So much like his daddy

This picture was taken right after Carter was born. If you look in the background you can see the newborn picture of Dave that we put by the bed while I was in labor. Some of the nurses were asking how we got a picture of him already because they look so much alike!

Counting sheep...

Some of our favorite shots

Everything is going well in this Mann house. We've had our hard days and long nights but that's what we expected from the beginning. We've worked past some challenges in eating and now we are fully back to breast feeding! We did not think it was possible and are so thankful to the home health program in Sonoma County that sends Lactation Consultants to the homes of new moms to help them get past any problems they have with breast feeding. We are having so much fun watching Carter make his funny little faces and cuddling up with him for a nap. Mom is grateful that he has saved all his "blow outs" for Dad and that the projectile pooping happened when Dad was changing him but both of us have gotten lots of laughs at our little farter... I mean Carter... and we love being parents. We appreciate everyone's love and support from the meals to the laundry and all the calls and visits. We definitely feel loved and taken care of and we are enjoying parenthood.

Carter loves daddy!

Carter took his first trip home last night. He was so excited that he wanted to eat all night and not let his parents get some sleep.

We are still at the hospital and things are going ok. We've been having some trouble feeding but have been improving quickly today. He also has had a lot of bleeding from his circumcision so he's seen the doctor a few times but is relaxing and taking a nice nap right now.

Carter Pierce Mann born 4-8-08 at 11:20 pm. 7.3 lbs 21 inches long. Baby and Mommy are healthy and happy.

Carter Pierce Mann born 4-8-08 at 11:20 pm. 7.3 lbs 21 inches long. Baby and Mommy are healthy and happy.

AAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!

We thought we would be on our way to the hospital by now but after a sleepless night we got a call from the hospital at 5:15 a.m. saying they were full. I guess we will just have to try again tomorrow morning.

T minus 8 1/2 hours and counting...

Wow, the time has finally come! Both Brook and I are excited, nervous, tired, stressed, a little hungry and nervous for tomorrows events. We went to the doctor on Friday and our Midwife was kinda surprised to see us there. She had figured that Carter would have already been born by then, but alas, he was not. The final stats from the appointment are as follows: 4-5 cm dilated, 80% effaced, -1 station and a bulging bag of water. Our doctor told us that this was "one for the books". We spent the weekend getting things done so we could be as prepared as possible for our little Mann to come home. It all begins at 6 a.m. tomorrow, where we will check into the hospital and get this party started. We would like to thank everyone for their love, support and prayers as we prepare for this journey called parenthood.

Our people will call your people...

A request to friends and family:
We know how excited all of you are and trust me we are excited too, but understand that as I'm not sleeping very well any chance I get to sleep is precious. We appreciate everyone calling and checking in, but PLEASE try to keep it to reasonable hours of the day. People have been calling and texting around the clock. Also, please know that when the baby comes we will definitely let you know! No one has to call and ask if the baby is already here. We are getting very anxious as we thought he would be here by now and it is really hard enough without everyone constantly reminding us. Again, we do appreciate all of the love and support and phone calls are fine, just please not before 10 am or after 10pm.
Also, I am able to blog from my phone so we can actually post short blogs and even pictures from the hospital. If you are wondering if the baby is here please check our blog.
Thank you and we love you all.
Monday at the latest.