Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy

Before Christmas, we were pleasantly surprised to see how much Carson LOVES aquariums! We did a shopping trip out to Cabela's, and under their huge rock/mountain display of cool animals (taxidermy), we found they had about 15 feet of a tunneled out aquarium. We walked in and saw Carson's eyes light up!! He was looking everywhere and all the beautiful scenery and fish, completely mezmorized! 

The next stop was obviously a big aquarium, but the new Portland one I had been hearing wasnt finished yet. We were/still are planning on going to the Seaside or Newport one this summer! Well, my Mom came to visit the beginning of February, and we decided to take a day trip to Seattle. We were eating lunch overlooking the water, when we saw the big Seattle Aquarium below:) We couldnt resist and went straight over! It was the coolest experience!! Carson loved every second!!! He even got to play in the water like he loves to do and touch a starfish! It was definitely an experience to remember!!!

Along with the Seattle trip while my mom was visiting, we spent a day at the Portland Children's Museum, and as you can see below...he even loves their little fishy display;)

Basically what I am getting at, is my son L.O.V.E.S to watch any fish in any aquarium at any time;) 

SOOOOOOO.................

that of course meant that we wanted to get Carson a tank of his very own:):):) 

 We started by going to the petstore of course to see what they had for set-ups and fish. Our first day, im not kidding when I saw we were there for about 2 hours!! We asked questions, talked about what we were actually wanting and what would be best for Carson to be able to fully enjoy! After we Picked out our tank, we started looking at the fish AGAIN to add up the prices of all we were going to get that day with our tank setup. I asked for a piece of paper and pen to keep track of what we wanted, and while he did give me something to take notes on, he decided then was a good time to tell us that since we didnt have our tank set up yet, we couldnt get any fish. For a whole week. :o I can take some of the blame for this for not walking in more prepared and educated about what we were doing, BUT it was obvious around the first hour we were there we had no idea what we were doing. Will was furious at the lack of customer service, since he just stood there the whole time watching us. We left soon after that empty handed.

The next day, I decided to start some research. Oh man, was I surprised! There is so much we had no clue about!! I also became frustrated when I learned that the associate who "helped" us the first time, really half-assed on giving out information even more than we thought. Ugh, he was awful. Anyway, I read and researched until my eyes hurt! There's a lot more to it than we ever thought! I do have to say though, it was fun:) We ended up looking at fish at Petco next (we went to Petsmart first) to find different variety too, but crap for tank display. We went back to Petsmart (of course our employee of the month was working) to get our tank we originally picked out. We didnt say one word to Dill-Weed and had some fun picking out our decor. We went straight home to set up! Even empty, when we were done it looked better than we expected!!:) I sat my butt down to research even more after.

We went to a completely different Petsmart the next day to check out what they had for fish! The best place we've been so far! And this time was a breeze! I felt so much better about what we were looking at and the questions we were asking the awesome girl who was helping us! All of that reading paid off! We left with our first three "starter fish", some food, a water test kit, and even ran into the Dollar Tree for a log journal to keep track of water testing. Almost sound like pros;) hahaha We were so excited to get our first little guys back and in their new home! And we cant wait to get even more this week!! Its been a blast watching them chase each other and hang out in our living room! Carson has the coolest play corner that ive seen;) Lucky lucky boy!!

you can see our 3 little platies in there:)

play corner!!!!

This is such a fun experience for us as a family! I had boring little Bettas when I was little so I never got to enjoy the fun of having a whole tank set up! As Carson grows, he will be able to help Mommy and Daddy take care of them, making him feel more important and of course teach him responsibility:) Couldnt be happier with our decision! And now our living room is so much more alive!!!!

Here come the Greens!

When everyone sees Carson eat, they are surprised at how much he will actually woof down!! Well, i knew veges needed to come into play soon, actually i was running a little late on them even!! First green introduced was my favorite, green beans. His faces were priceless!!! ((hopefully i can upload a video!!)) Every time he made a face, he would still open his mouth up for another bite! such a great eater!!! Recently, I have whipped up batches of fresh peas and tried them out. To my surprise, he gobbles them up not a problem!! Still made a cute funny face for the first times but opened up for another bite right after!!

Sad its blurry but you can make out his silly face;)

We have also tested out avocado/pear food and Popsicles! im not kidding when i say its delicious!! I dont even like avacado! YUM!

YUMMM!!!

We have tried carrots (not greens i know) and I had to coax him a little by mixing with bites of peaches LOL after that he ate his whole bowl! 

I am soo thankful my son is not a picky eater like his Mom!!! Food is much more fun when you dont hate everything on the menu!!!:):)

Just a Day @ the Park

If you know me, you know that I absolutely love going to parks, hiking on trails, or going to the lake. Thats just my idea of how to really enjoy a beautiful day! Before I became pregnant, majority of the nice days when I had a day off, It would just be me and the dogs (occasionally I could find someone who wanted to tag along) finding new adventures. Now Carson's here, and nothing has changed!! :) It just kind of my thing! And Carson loves it just as much as me and the dogs! 

Anyway, the other day while meeting up with a few ladies to sell some baby clothes and other things...we had 3 hours to kill until the next meet, and needed to stay close by as well. I decided to go to one of our very favorite parks Dawson Creek, which by the way, is the very first park I took Carson too at about two weeks old:) 

2 weeks old @ Dawson Creek

5 1/2 MONTHS old @ Dawson Creek!!

So on this most recent trip, the reason I chose to share, is because for some reason, it turned into one of those memories I will cherish forever! We started our walk by looking at all the ducks and geese being fed by a family...which thinking about it, I dont think Carson has ever seen a duck or bird for that matter that close up before! The dad even shared a piece of bread with us! How nice:) 

Carson loved the ducks! Wouldnt take his eyes off them!

We continued our walk along the water, stopping to watch birds fly or people walk by. 

We ended up finding a secluded bench spot that was right next to the water, far from the walking path, where I decided to set up "camp" hehe. I brought along some baby food for a little picnic just for my little man too! He really liked eating his lunch outside in the fresh air!!

Lunchtime!!

The sun and sky was so beautiful and refreshing, and surprisingly even that cold!! Is it even winter anymore?? haha I am so ready for the sun to stick around! After lunch we did some sensory play in the grass and next to trees, letting Carson touch everything he wanted. Birds and ducks flew into the water, the dogs were able to hang out with us off leash, everything was just perfect!! Dixie even jumped in for a swim! (i told her bad girl and made her go lay in the sun to dry off, which im sure she didnt even mind lol) Carson and the dogs were in the very best of moods!!!

As Carson became more and more worn down from all the activity...we just sat on the bench together and cuddled and watched the world around us :) Who knows how long we sat there...maybe an hour?? It was just the most peaceful blissful moment I think ive had as a parent so far, honestly<3 No worries, no time limit, just my son and I, enjoying each other and the beautiful day!!! I am one lucky momma!!!!

Once we were ready, even the walk back to the Jeep was fun! :)

WHAT 

AN 

AMAZINGLY FANTASTIC 

DAY!!!

First Real Haircut

I never imagined Id have a baby with SO MUCH HAIR!! Carson was born with a full head, and contrary to what everyone says about newborns losing all the hair they are born with, he never has!! We have given him 1 trim in the beginning of January because of his developing "rat tail" that we werent very fond of LOL Then just last week, it was time for a real clipper haircut! i could put his hair in a pony-tail for goodness sake! Daddy pulled out the clippers and I was very surprised to see that with just a few toys to keep him occupied, Carson did great! Not his usual wiggely self, which allowed Dad to do a great job!! Pictures dont do it justice because its hard to tell how long it actually was to begin with. Im not kidding when I say that before the cut, EVERYDAY was a bad hair day with Carson! HAHAHA Hair stickin out every which way, always crazy! Since then, no more crazy hair days! Yaay!! :) 

Watch out Ladies!!!

before...this was a very tame day so hard to tell how long the side were!

before...great shot of how long the back was!! jeeze!!!

Daddy doing the first cut!!

look at all that hair on his shoulder!!! Well over an inch cut off!!

After...he did great!

After...hard to tell i know, but it looks 1000 times better!!!!

1st Friend

Carson has officially made his very first friend! So funny and cute to say! Especially thinking about growing up myself, and some of the friends I had were all by choice of my parents. Of course, being that young you cant make your own friends LOL so I made have made Carson his first friend he possibly might know for the rest of his life..just like a few of my friends! :) Very cool to think about!!

Anyway, I like our "how we met" story:) I have been a member of a facebook group, so basically a support site, called Mommies and Babies. Its a place for Moms all around my area to share pictures, post comments, advice, and questions for other Moms to see and leave feedback! Its very cool I think! I posted a comment about being a stay-at-home mom and just wanted to see what ladies had to say about how they were doing it financially. Times are tough! While some posts only get minimal response, my particular post received almost 100 comments! WOW! Some very nice ladies left advice and encouragement, while I responded with tons of thanks and that I was just feeling a little lonely out where I live with not enough spare cash to really do much of anything! Then out of no where one lady asked where I lived, and that she lived just in North Plains. We started messaging each other and I was absolutely amazed at how much we had in common!!! Kinda freaky actually LOL! The very next day we set up a play date at her house for our boys...and it was like we'd known each other for years! Loved it! 

We've gotten together a lot since then and Joseph a little over 7 months older than Carson but its still fun to see them play with the same toys and go with Mommy's to fun places like the Portland Children's Museum! Which by the way we will be going to many many more times for years to come since its like a mini Disneyland of toys for kids!! SO COOL!! Even the daddy's get along, which is seriously a miracle since Will isnt what you would call a people person! HAHA I literally had to drag him to dinner at their house so we could all meet and hang out together...which he actually admitted to having a great time :)

I know we will be having many more adventures to come together, which makes me one happy Momma!!

Children's Museum!

Makin faces and smiling at each other!!

Playin with all the cool toys!

Drums!! 

This was taken at the end of the day when we got back to the house...the picture was taken a half second too late, but Carson had leaned over just to give his new friend Joseph a hug! :) So sweet!

First walk together

Just another thing Mommy's have in common if you can tell, is good taste in strollers;)

Dinner Get-Together

There were toys everywhere in the living room, but THIS is where they wanted to play:)

Daddy's First

We have been on solids for just about a month now with Carson, and its been a blast! Since I have been feeding him solids for lunch time only, unfortunately Daddy has not been able to be around much for it yet! He was there for his first and second attempts on Thanksgiving and Christmas at least, and has watched me a few times on his days off (usually holding the video camera!) So a couple days ago I looked at the clock to see it was lunch time and asked Daddy if he wanted to feed him. You could tell we was excited, so I let him pick out whatever food he wanted. LoL. Pears it was so I took some from my freezer stock and warmed them up and let my boys bond over food :)

My Secret Remedy

In our journey through introducing solid foods, we have come into a little bump in the road. One that is common, but not one that everyone wants to talk about. Constipation. I have been giving Carson his sippy cup with water during every lunch time meal to make sure he washes it all down good, and he gets plenty of fluids from breastfeeding all day. However we still were not able to escape this inevitability. 

Carson did not poop for over 5 days!! Day 6 I was in a panic searching all over the internet trying to find a good remedy, without having to give him any sort of laxatives. We had already tried apple juice the day before, and it seemed like everything else was saying just feed him fruit (pears or peaches) which is what I had been doing anyway!!! No help there. Then I started reading a post on a website just for parents to ask questions and get advice. As I read through the comments, I wasnt impressed with what I saw until one of them. A lady responded saying that a while ago a nurse had told her an old secret that no one really likes to use because its bad for teeth and was just kind of forgotten about. BUT she said it was a guarantee success. Those were the words I needed to hear!!

Brown sugar & water!!! 

Just sugar water? YES!! I swear by this remedy!! And as far as being bad for teeth, I do not mind going to clean gums or brush teeth right after use if it can help my baby get over this misery!! Poor guy just cried and cried, so I got right to mixing up a bottle!:)

50mL of Water

1/4 teaspoon Brown Sugar

Heat it up and serve!!

The VERY next day, Carson went!! YAAY!! He was happy the rest of the day!! I have used this twice now and each time, just wait overnight and it clears the system!! Good 'ol sugar water :)