The potty and pants...

This morning Carson was enamored with the potty again.

He kept sitting on it and saying "pee pee".

This clearly points to how often I am using the restroom during the day these days. Pretty sad!

Here he demonstrates how to climb up onto the toilet like a true 17 month old.

Another exciting note for today....We are wearing PANTS today in Las Vegas.

Like, because we have to!

It is 78 degrees and beautiful and fall is here. We went to the park this morning and Carson got totally dirty and ate some sand, just to commemorate the day.

Jump!

Carson was inspired yesterday to attempt jumping. Here he works on his hops with Daddy.

Mommy's vertical is severely hampered at this time by a giant baby bump. :)

A lazy Friday...

We had a lazy Friday yesterday because Carson has a very runny nose.

We chilled and watched cartoons to cap off our very busy week.

This week we went to the library, gymnastics, the Springs Preserve, the pool, and for a walk with our neighbors every day. This boy has a busy schedule!

Here he is, enjoying some time with his lovey and his crush, Dora....

Still had time to crawl into his toybox and get a very up-close view of his toys!

A cute pic of him and his Daddy from the park last weekend....

We are heading up the Mt. Charleston tomorrow morning to see the fall colors up there...

should be a great time!

Just a couple of funnies...

Carson is a funny man these days.

The last couple of days, he gets up from his nap, pulls up his stool that he uses to get to the bathroom sink to brush his teeth, and sits on it like it's a potty and says "pee pee".

I have no doubt that he is not really going "pee pee" but is trying to act like me, since I now go about 100 times per day!

New words this week include "money" and he is also trying to say "violin" even though it comes out sounding like a foreign language. When we point to his own picture and ask him who it is, he responds by saying "Meeeeeeeeee!"

I want to remember every single little "funny" that he gives us because these are the moments that make life with him so amazing. Every single day is an adventure!

We are really enjoying watching this little man grow up. He is becoming so smart and independent and we are so proud of our stinky fish.

The Stinky Sis is very busy in my belly. She gets the hiccups all the time and sometimes it feels like her foot is going to completely poke through the skin on my stomach. She kicks so hard!

I am feeling great other than the usual sleeping challenges. We are walking for 40 minutes every day which has helped me stay in some sort of shape, although I think chasing Carson around all day counts as cardio!

John Legend Pics

Such a sweet show!

Friends

One of Carson's BFFs is his buddy Chase from down the street. Chase and Carson could pass for brothers with their blonde hair and blue eyes. They are two weeks apart and they have so much fun together!

An ode to the Hurricane...

I am just missing my dad today. It's been one month since he's been gone and I still can't believe it. I still go to call him all the time. I thought I'd put up some pictures from some of his fun times here in Vegas with us and Carson.

So here's to you Papa Dennis! You are the best.

Just pull up a seat!

Carson is busy enjoying how grown-up he is becoming.

He has discovered that he can sit at our kitchen table like the rest of us.

Once and awhile, during the day, he will just pull up a chair and sit at the table. Just for fun.

Yesterday, we were strolling through the grocery store....And I looked away for a second....

only to look back and find Carson

EATING A RAW BRUSSEL SPROUT.

We took it up to the counter and confessed to the check-out lady.

She told us not to worry....We kept the innocent victim that was the brussel sprout

and took it home as a souvenier.

We will add it to the list of bizarre things he has eaten or attempted to eat, such as dirt, rocks, gravel, charcoal from our chimnea, and a rusty nail.

He also eats green beans and asparagus with abandon!

Looks like "picky eater" is not one of the phrases that describe our boy.

In fact, we may someday find him on the Travel Channel

hosting one of those "Bizarre Foods" shows.

In other news, I have been amused lately by the reactions of others when I tell them that we are having babies that will be 18 months apart.

I have noticed almost all of the reactions involve eye-widening and a phrase like "Wow, you're brave!" or "Good luck with that!" Some of these reactions also involve a gasp of shock.

In the end, I agree that it might all be a little bit crazy....but we are lucky as all heck to be expecting a little girl and I am so proud of it...I enjoy laughing at those who act like I am the Octo-Mom when I tell them that our kids will be so close in age.

But will we be laughing on Election Day when our baby is born?? Probably not.

But I still feel like we won the lottery again!

The new thing....

Carson's new "thing" is taking all of the toiletries and cleaning products from Jason's bathroon cabinet and putting them into his hamper. Yesterday he spent about 30 minutes bringing each individual object over to the hamper and tossing it in there.

All we can do is watch!

Step 1 - take toothpaste from cabinet....

Toss it in....

And when it's all said and done....Jason's hamper looks like this!
What a goof!!

We had another ultrasound yesterday for baby Samantha! She is growing perfectly, according to our doctor. She weighs about 4 lbs, 2 oz right now which is right where she should be for this time in her development. She was eating her hands and pulling on her tongue the whole time that we were looking at her, and it was cracking us all up. My doctor recommended waiting another three weeks before starting fetal monitoring because everything is going so well. We're so happy that everything has gone so smoothly and cannot wait to see this little lady in less than 7 weeks.

Spoon Man

Carson is getting into utensils. Here he demonstrates his spoon skills with applesauce. Things get a little messy when he's using them, but it's worth the look on his face when he gets a piece of food into his mouth successfully. Priceless!

One of Carson's recent favorite words is "baby". He talks about babies all the time. I am not sure if this bodes well for Samantha or not....Our new obsession with babies could be just in the nick of time, OR she is about to enter a world where a near-30 lb. baboon-like creature is obsessed with her, in which case she may need to quickly develop mad kung-fu fighting skills. Hmmm....we shall see!

This morning he saw three babies on the Today Show and couldn't stop talking about them.

More new words today include "bee bo" (belly button), "dig", and "towel". He also took the time to point out the fridge magnet that is in the shape of the letter "D", saying "deeeeeeeee" and doing 10 laps around the living room with it.

Please excuse our hair in this video....Carson was conducting his own research study this morning, entitled "The Effectiveness of Grape Jelly as a Hair Scultping Agent." The results of the study indicate that it works!!

More fun times at the park...

We visited another park in Summerlin yesterday...Another exciting park with everything a kid could ask for...water, slides, sand pit with buckets and shovels....

But mainly, all we wanted to do was play with the spray suncreen

and take the cap on and off of it.

You figure it out!

Walking up the slide is the best.

Gettin' after it...leading with the belly and the big noggin.

Up and down and all around...catch me if you can, Dad!

More pics from game day...

Sarah has this amazing camera and it takes great pics!

Just a few more pics from our fun day on Saturday...

Corn

Carson has officially had his first experience with....Corn on the cob!

He thought it was pretty much awesome.

The Chase

Isaiah and Carson practice their running game....

Bump watch

For those of you that have requested a bump check...here you go.

30.5 weeks and getting bigger all the time!

This is the only Hawkeye shirt that I could find that provided proper bump coverage.

Hawks

Isaiah and Sarah arrived at our house early this morning for a game watch.

It's always fun when Hawkeye football gets underway.

Below...the boys dressed in their Hawk gear...all geared up to cheer on their team.

We spent most of the game outside in the yard watching the boys chase one another and reading books like "Morris the Moose" and "What Do Fish Do?" over and over again. A big change from the crazy tailgates of the past....but what in the world could be better?!?!

In Samantha's room...

There are exciting toys....like pink bins....that I can crawl into.

Samantha's Room

It isn't quite done....but it already has that je ne sais quoi!

While sleeping in a Parisian paradise, she will have no choice but to find her inner French girl.

Just wakin' up.....

Carson was so sweet waking up from his nap today....