Monday, June 25, 2012

Baby Fisk #3: 15 Weeks...



How far along? 15 Weeks


Total weight gain/loss? 3 lbs.  Went to the doctor last week and that's the total thusfar.  However, it feels like the weight is being packed on by the second!

Maternity clothes? Still just some bottoms here and there. 


Sleep?  Sleeping fine and still get to bed pretty early.


Movement? None yet.


Food cravings/aversions? I seem to be hungry a lot but am trying not to eat at every stomach growling.  Easier said than done - my self control is lacking :)

Gender?  We should know this very soon :)  July 19th is our next appointment.


Labor signs? No (I don't know why I even include this question).


What others are saying: I have gotten a few, "Oh, I can tell you're pregnant" this week but nothing else.


What I miss: I really do enjoy being pregnant and the miracle I get to experience (so much better after the first trimester).


What I am looking forward to:  Days without headaches :). 

Milestones: Not much news this week...just SO thankful to have heard the heartbeat.  I'm a worrier by nature and it was such a relief to hear that the baby was a-ok!

Beautiful Story...

I read this story this morning and cried and cried.  What faith this family has!  And, what an example they are for us all...may we all have the courage, faith and acceptance of God's will demonstrated here.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Peter: 8 Months...

A month has already passed!  Wow.  It's funny/neat to me that as "sad" as I may be about Peter growing up so fast, each new day brings something new to make me smile or to remind me that every moment is to be cherished.  Growing up is just a part of things (some days I have an easier time with that than others).

Here are Peter's current stats:

Weighs about 23 lbs I would guess

Is about 29 inches long (we have a check-up in a month to verify).

Wears anything from 12 month to 18 month clothing.

Still drinks 5 bottles/day equaling almost 29-30 ounces of formula with added rice.


Eats anywhere from 2-7 oz of baby food a day. We try to give him veggie/meat mixes mid-morning and fruit mixes in the afternoon.


Starting to eat table food.  He loves everything and wants to be eating when we're eating.  In fact, I walked in on he and Carter in the living room last week sharing some club crackers.  Carter takes really good care of him :)



Is still on Zantac and is still spitting up a ton.  Seems worse than ever this month.



Takes 2 good naps a day, ranging from 1 hour to 2.5 hours.  And, sometimes there is a third.  He goes down for the night around 6:30 and still typically wakes a little before six.

He is in full crawling mode and can get anywhere in a hurry!  He starting crawling at about 7.5 months.


He also has 3 teeth!  Peter went from zero to three teeth in a matter of two weeks!


Already loves to be outside...just like his brother.


 
Peter LOVES Carter and cries when Carter is upset and laughs at about everything else he does.  It is my favorite thing to watch. 


We love, love, love you sweet Peter!



Monday, June 18, 2012

QOTW: 6/18/12...

It's been a little while since I wrote a QOTW post, and Carter has been full of it lately!

For some reason (in which I have no clue), Carter's potty training has regressed...terribly!  Yes, last week I was busy and didn't pay him a ton of attention, but I cannot think of anything else that has changed.  He has not been making it through the night.  One morning when he woke up, I went in to find him and the bed soaked.  A little frustrated (this wasn't the first time), our conversation went like this:

Me: (getting down on his level) "Carter, listen..."
Carter: (before I could say a word started shaking his little finger at me) "NO, NO, NO!  Dis is berry naughty.  No t-t on bed.  Do again and get big pankin'."

That conversation really hasn't changed things.

Friday, Carter was outside and had another accident in his pants (the big kind).  Elley was there and said that when my brother was little he kept having accidents, so she took him outside and hosed him down with the water hose and it cured him.  So, I though, "Perfect!  Let's try it."  As I was hosing him off, this is what I here...
(giggle, giggle, giggle) "That be really fun!"  Success, wouldn't you say?!?  Ha!

Another time, before I even had a chance to say anything, he's shaking his finger again yelling, "NO SIR!"

Carter really likes to sit in my lap.  Sometimes to read, other times just to sit there.  One evening we were in the bathroom and he wanted to sit in my lap.  So there he was sitting, drinking his milk, and he leaned back looking at me and said, "Ah. Dis da life!"

Other one liners he says all the time:

"Dat be really better."
"Dat be fun."
"What IS that makin' noise?"
"Dadgummit."

His first ice cream cone...

 Cool as can be...

The only pic I got from Father's Day weekend.  Carter DID NOT want to take a picture, so he thought he would just keep his head down.  Nice...

Everything is better together...

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Fatherhood...

I was reading a Catholic newspaper we receive in the mail and saw this excerpt from Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation, Familiaris Consorio:

"[A] man is called upon to ensure the harmonious and united development of all the members of the family...by exercising generous responsibility for the life conceived under the heart of the mother, by a more solicitous commitment to education, a task he shares with his wife, by work which is never a cause of division in the family but promotes its unity and stability, and by means of the witness he gives of an adult Christian life which effectively introduces the children into the living experience of Christ and the Church." (No. 25).

I have so much to be thankful for in my boys' father.  He strives daily toward this vocation of fatherhood, spoken of by JPII.  I am so blessed to have a man right by my side, raising our children, who wants to be a part of every part of their lives as well.  While he sometimes leaves the house before sun up, puts in a long day of manual labor and gets home, surely exhausted, a little after 5:00, he acts as if his day has just begun when he sees the boys and me.  Their faces light up unlike they have been all day, and Carter practically waves his little hand off his arm, welcoming his daddy home while Peter's little dimple couldn't get any bigger as he grins from ear to ear.  The giggling and wrestling begin, the play intensifies and the joy apparent in the boys smiles and giddiness speaks ever-so-clearly to me: their dad isn't just an authority figuring popping in the door from time to time and going trough the motions.  Rather, their dad is their number one fan, their safety and their everyday role model for the way a man should be.

Beyond spending an incredible amount of quality time with the boys, Jeremy is already thinking of their future: How will we educate Carter and Peter and those to come?  Am I modeling the father I hope they become?  Do they know, because of who I am, rather than what I say, what is important in this earthly life?

There is no doubt in my mind the answers to those questions.  Jeremy lives for those little boys.  First and foremost, he loves and lives for God.  He cherishes and respects their mom.  And, there isn't anything he would not do for them...even if it is the hard things.

We are blessed to have such a long line of wonderful fathers and father figures, many of whom are never adequately "rewarded" for the role they have played and the unintended consequences of their every action.  Many of whom do what they do because of their calling and never for credit...but without them, where would we be today?  I shudder to think.

Fatherhood is no cake walk.  Beyond worrying about providing for a family financially, a lot rests on the shoulders of a dad.  It goes without saying the significance that a father plays in a child's life.  Fathers are called to provide a powerful witness to protecting and defending the sacredness of life while raising the God-given miracles of children. 

There are many demands on a father, but none more important than living and working to model the path to Heaven.

Thank you, Jeremy.  Thank you, Dad.  And, thank you, dads.













We are so very blessed!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Baby Fisk #3 - Week 14


I skipped week 13.  There was a lot going on and not many changes.  Oh well :)



How far along? 14 Weeks


Total weight gain/loss? Maybe 2 lbs...it fluctuates.  We have an appointment on the 20th, so I'll know more then.


Maternity clothes? Still just a pair of jeans and a top from time to time.  I'm sure I'll live in them soon enough.

Sleep?  Still hitting the hay pretty early these days.


Movement? None yet.


Food cravings/aversions? Everything is about the same.  I like avocados again.  I'm not good with super sweet things (although I seem to always want them)...it just ends up giving me a bad headache.  And, I put way too much salt on everything.

Gender?  I still have a slight feeling that it is a girl but am not certain by any means.  We'll schedule the gender ultrasound at my next appointment!


Labor signs? No.


What others are saying: Nothing this week, other than the comment made by a friend of my brother's that we needed cable and a few new board games.  Those comments aren't my favorite :)

Cindy, over at the Hot Mess Munsons, is calling the baby Abe...or so she informed me yesterday.  I asked her what we'll do if little Abe turns out to be a girl.  She didn't seem worried :)


What I miss: Energy...but it is coming back I think! 


What I am looking forward to: Finding out what we're having, maybe taking the boys to the pool and spending a weekend with Jeremy in the mountains for our anniversary soon!


Milestones: Baby Fisk is having a BOY cousin...Stephen Ross Carter!!!  We just found out yesterday that my brother, Chase, and sister-in-law, Jo, will have a little boy in October.  We couldn't be happier!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Carter is 2!

Carter's birthday was a bit of a whirlwind this year, as it was last year.  It just gets a little crazy this time of year on the ranch.  However, we did make time to have a little cake and ice cream with the grandparents!  I did not think Carter would even understand that it was his birthday (not sure what age I thought it would happen), but I was definitely wrong!  We celebrated on Sunday, and he woke up from his nap to see his "Happy Birthday" sign and started squealing.  He then said, "It's my birtday party!  Happy Birtday to ME!" over and over and over...so precious.  He was thrilled to see PaPa and Elley and Mimi and Pops! 

I tried to make him a fun birthday cake.  It was far from professional, but it was a fun undertaking :)  Here's Carter's birthday cake as a 2-year-old...



His birthday picture banner (what my mom did for us every year, and one of my favorite birthday memories)...

And, another little sign...


Peter was ready for the party.  He had his little blower in hand the entire time and was loving all of the excitement.

Mimi and Pops gave Carter a new Thomas puzzle book and he wanted to read it right away, as did Peter...

Peter loves his grandparents, too...

Carter was really into blowing out his candles...

and eating the icing, one finger's worth at a time.


Then he thought he'd have a little ice cream to go with it...

Carter got a new tricycle from Mimi and Pops.  He likes to call his trikes motorcycles!


We saved our gifts and PaPa and Elley's gifts for Carter's actual birthday on Monday, June "lempth."  Carter woke up to his new riding John Deer tractor and has been in Heaven ever since.  He drives it all over the yard, and we've yet to get the point across that driving it through the flower bed is a bad idea...oops.

Of all the gifts, I still don't think Carter and Peter had as much fun with anything as they did the balloons.  They loved them!!  Every time they would move, both boys would laugh and laugh.  It doesn't take much to make these sweet boys happy, and I love it.  Surprisingly, Carter was really excited about popping all of them the next day, too.  He's quite the little boy.



After his nap on his birthday, he woke up a bit of a grump.  RoRo had send a package, and as we were opening it, he saw his favorite thing inside...gummies!  He grabbed them and wanted them OPEN!  He wasn't too happy about looking at the rest of the gifts inside the box first.


That evening our good friends came over and we enjoyed dinner while the kids played and played.  Carter loved hauling his little friend around in the tractor trailer, and she seemed to have a good time too. 


Peter was catching the action from his place on Carter's new playhouse...the swing. 

While Peter swings, Carter likes to go down the slide next to him.  Again, it creates lots of laughter between the boys.

And another of his new favorites...Carter's wheelbarrow from Gramma and Pop.  He loves to push it around all day, wanting to sell you a flower or dig you a hole.

There isn't anything this kid doesn't love to do outside!



Jeremy and I have a hard time believing this little guy was a tiny baby in our arms just two years ago.  A part of us feels like he's been with us forever, and another part wonder's where these last two years have gone...so much happens so quickly!  Carter is as good as they come.  While he has his fair share of frustrating moments and times when he lets us know he isn't happy, his day-to-day life is full of energy, wit and love for life!  He always has us laughing and keeps us on our toes.  He has a memory like an elephant and talks like he's 5.  He loves his little brother and enjoys being around others.  While he isn't eating a ton lately, he still drinks as much milk as we'll let him and would love to live on a sugar high.  He is in 2T/24 month clothes, as well as a few 3T shirts, and he's still doing a fairly good job of keeping his undies dry :).  He loves to read and would prefer to live outside.  He sings his ABCs with us, counts to about 15 with help, says his prayers, recognizes most colors and shapes, and loves for us to sing him songs.  Beyond that, he likes to "run real fast," "be so funny" and let me know when he is "berry naughty." 

Happy 2nd Birthday, little boy!  We love you so much!


Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Life Lately...

Well, it has been busy around here.  We finished up our branding season with two days of branding a total of 265 calves, feeding 38 people, watching the boys play with friends and cousins, a birthday for Carter (later post) and a crawfish boil at Uncle Chase and Aunt Jo's place. 

So, summer is about to get a little less busy and somewhat more relaxed.  There is always something going on/to do, but in Carter's opinion, life is much better when you can just sit on the porch and have a little watermelon...

I think PaPa likes it too!

This is my cousin's kid, Chappell...talk about a fun 5-year-old to be around.  I don't think he realized he had the corn kernel on his tooth, but he was sure cheesing it up for the camera...

MiMi and Pops brought Peter a new hat, and while he was a little skeptical at first (excuse the red eye)...

...I think he loves it!


My brother and sister-in-law find out the gender of their baby tomorrow and we couldn't be more thrilled!  We're in the process of putting a stucco fence up around our entire yard, hoping it will snake-proof the place a bit, and then we'll put in a lawn.  We're trying to get it all done while we still can enjoy it this summer :)

That's about it around here.  I have a fun b-day to post about and a few quotes from the last few days.  Hopefully they'll be up soon!



Thursday, June 7, 2012

Peter's Milestones...

This little guy is getting too big, too fast!  Just last Tuesday, his first little tooth popped through, and today, his second is showing.  He would eat Mum Mums all day long if we let him.  We've started giving him a few cheerios, but his hand-to-mouth coordination with little things isn't quite there yet :)

Also this week he started crawling (he gets on his hands and knees, tucks his knees under him and lunges forward), and he is one determined little boy!  There isn't anything he won't go for.

His new favorite thing is riding on his dad's shoulders.  He giggles and smiles the whole time.  Jeremy does, too, until he gets spit up running down his face :)

As I mentioned awhile back, Carter and Peter are interacting and playing together so much more just lately.  It makes my heart so happy.  Carter would love nothing more than to push Peter everywhere in the stroller...


And, this is another one of their laugh sessions: Carter starts laughing at Peter, and then Peter gets going too, and it makes everyone laugh!  This morning, Peter woke up early, and we put him in Carter's high chair.  When Carter woke up, I thought he might be a little upset.  Instead, he came into the kitchen, saw Peter, and almost fell on the ground laughing while saying, "Well, good mornin', Peder!"  Oh, how I love them!