Doctor Appointments

Both boys had check ups on Friday...it was a busy day!

Carter had his 18 months visit and here are his stats:

Height: 32 1/2 (50-75%)

Weight: 26 pounds, 5.7 ounces (50%)

Head: 19 inches (75%)

Cooper had his 4 day check up and here are his stats:

Height: 19 inches (apparently he shrunk a bit since birth!)

Weight: 6 pounds, 10.5 ounces

Head: 13 2/8 inches

Both are healthy and growing!!

Our Littlest Spark

First Bath


Lots of sleeping

Big Brother

Every day has been quite an adventure for Carter since Cooper was born. Some moments he looks at Cooper, smiles and give him kisses. Other times he seems distressed that there is this new person stealing his attention. He has been a little more disobedient but also quite entertaining!

Here are some highlights:

The Good

Lots of kisses for his little brother:)

The Bad

Cooper knows to keep one eye open when Carter is around!

In addition to being quite rough with Cooper, Carter has also tried to put more things in the toilet and is pushing the limits with just about everything.

The Funny

He keeps taking my breast pads and wearing them around as hats:)

Not sure why but he keeps doing these crazy poses for pictures!

And my favorite...at the hospital he kept acting like a monkey!!

Hospital Pics

After going in for my weekly prenatal visit on Tuesday, January 26th, Dr. Brown was a bit concerned with a blood clot in my leg and that Cooper was measuring a little small. I ended up spending about 6 hours at the clinic that day getting all sorts of tests run. Dr. Brown decided to schedule Cooper to be induced on Friday, February 5th (about a week before our due date). In addition to that, I needed to go in for follow up ultra sounds and tests to make sure things were progressing well. After my Friday visit, numbers were still a bit low but not overly concerning. However, when I went in on February 1st for the same tests, Cooper's numbers had dropped again and Dr. Brown said I needed to have this baby TODAY!

It was a little stressful in the moment. I was in the clinic and within 15 minutes was wheeled over to the hospital. Dr. Brown broke my water and started me on pitocin about 2 hours after I had arrived for my check up. Tim arranged a babysitter for Carter, called my mom who immediately got in the car to head up to Grand Forks, and then he rushed over to the hospital.

Once Tim got to the hospital we talked, I caught him up to speed, we canceled all our appointments and then played some cards! Labor eventually got a little too difficult for cards but I did end up getting an epidural which was GREAT!! After two different scares where Cooper's heart rate dropped, the nurses stopped the pitocin and about 10 1/2 hours after my water was broke, Cooper was born! Labor was pretty easy and I only had to push through two contractions. Cooper is healthy and such a gift from the Lord!

Carter came over to visit. He gave Cooper two kisses and then ignored him the rest of the time...more on that development soon!

Nana made it over to the hospital right after Cooper was born and came back the next day. She has been a huge help with both boys and cooking!

So far Cooper eats great and sleeps A LOT!

We were very ready to leave the hospital. It wasn't quite as overwhelming the 2nd time around:)

Introducing...

Cooper John Spark

February 1st at 8:27 pm

6 pounds, 13 ounces

20 1/2 inches

My Dog, My Cat, My Mama, and Me

Carter's favorite book this past week has been My Dog, My Cat, My Mama and Me. He asks me to read it to him AT LEAST 15 times a day. The whole premise of the book is discovering why your dog, cat and mom get fatter and fatter but then become thin after having babies. I find it quite comical that he has discovered this book 2 weeks before becoming a big brother!



We also solved the mystery of our missing things. Apparently Carter has been sneaking off with them and putting them in the kitchen garbage. Thankfully we caught him in the act but the bummer is we have taken out multiple bags that I'm sure have treasures in them. Oh well...

Random pics

Here are some recent pics:


Carter has just recently started enjoying his adirondack chair. He loves to grab a few books and chill every once in a while which is nice for me too!


But he never sits still for very long! Here he is running around the meeting room at our Winter Getaway. He had a lot of fun with the students...what a blessing that he is such a people guy!


Another of his favorite things is going "bye bye". He runs to the back door where we keep his jacket and says "coat" and "hat" repeatedly until we get him ready to go!

And last but not least, some 37 week belly shots! And day or week now:)

Carter's favorite word right now is "cookie". He asks me for one all day long! Funny thing is that he has never even had a cookie...but for now Goldfish, Teddy Grahams and crackers are all cookies in his mind and he LOVES them!!

Dancing with Dad II

Three things that Tim loves: Carter, 80s music and dancing...all of them captured in one moment here:)

Go Hawkeyes!

The Iowa Hawkeyes won the Orange Bowl this year! On the big game night Tim was trying to teach Carter a very important word:) We aren't sure why he growls while saying "Hawkeyes". Carter even got to watch a couple plays. His favorite part of the night though was the pregame marching band! Go Hawks!!

More Words...

One of Carter's new favorite things to do is make animal noises. So many of his books have animals in them and he'll point to a cow and go, "Moooooooooooooo".
Or when we ask him what a horse says he'll say, "Neighhhhhhhhhhhhhh". He's pretty consistent with getting the "Meowww" of a cat or "Woof woof" of a dog. Once in a while he'll even get the "Quack" of a duck right but every other animal says "moooo" or "neigh" in his mind!!

Christmas 2009

I'm a bit behind AGAIN...but I guess that is just the kind of blogger that I am:)

We had a whirlwind of a Christmas with a couple days with each of our families in the Cities and then downtown on the 26th for TCX. Carter seemed to enjoy opening gifts and really loves his new toys. Everyday he wants to play with his mega bloks, wooden puzzles, bristle blocks and balls. Here are a couple of pics:

Out in the cold with Grampy and Mimi

Enjoying the pool and Nana and Papa's new apartment


Opening gifts...

And playing with his new toys in his new outfit (thanks Shan and Bud)!!

Dancing with Dad

One of Carter's new favorite things to do is clap and "dance" to music. Tim was encouraging him the other day by clapping and dancing himself. It got Carter all excited and as he ran around clapping he had a slight encounter with the couch:) It didn't seem to slow him down much though!

East Asia Hat

Tim brought home lots of gifts for Carter from East Asia! A police car that lights up, a stuffed camel, a panda bear, and a cute little outfit. Carter also got this hat from our dear friends Britta and Steven that live in EA. Perfect for our little boy that loves to play the "hat game".

Here He Comes!!

Wow does Carter keep us on our toes! He is so active and energetic that most days I'm chasing him around so much I forget that I'm 7 1/2 months pregnant!!

He has learning some news words in the past couple of weeks as well:

Hot and cold-if his eggs are too hot he lets us know. When we go outside he normally says, "Cold...brrrrrrrrrrrr". It's pretty cute!

Blanket-it sounds like he is saying "beta" but we know what he means

Applesauce

Diaper

Aflac-really random but some of our friends have a toy duck and when you squeeze it, it says "Aaaaaflac". Carter got a kick out of it and has been repeating it for days:)

And one more cute picture of my blue-eyed boys!!