Daddy's Turn...

Well, this week has flown by. Things are going great, but it is amazing how fast the time goes!

Carson is going through a growth spurt right now, so just in case I forgot how it felt to feed him every 2 hours--he has reminded me the last few days. He is getting SO BIG!! His smile just melts me. :)

Here is a picture of Carson at bath time--he LOVES baths.

Today the whole family went to Broomfield High School for some quality family time (yeah--a little sarcastic) to watch softball and volleyball, and Carson was happy as can be in the snugli with Daddy. :)

Last but not least--GO CU BUFFS!! They beat #4 Oklahoma today in a huge upset. Boulder will be rockin' tonight...

Sorry LaNan--your Sooners went down hard today!! ha ha ha

Back to School at UoP--I took the plunge

I have decided to enroll at the University of Phoenix to obtain a Masters degree in Education Administration. My reasons are simple--the school district is going to get rid of the financial step where having the equivalent of a masters degree (which is where I am) pays the same as having aMasters degree. Also, I can't ignore the timing of having 3 friends that have enrolled in the program where we can have a learning team of people we already know and trust. I mean, face it--school is always more fun when you are with friends!

I will be attending school on Wednesday nights, and Mike will be on "baby duty" while I am getting my learn on :)!

On Thursday night, Carson and I travelled back to Centaurus to watch the football team win decisively. It was so fun to see everybody, and Carson slept the whole time in the Snugli.

I am working on Carson's baby announcement; and he got 4 week-old pictures taken that were REALLY cute. Here are a few pics that he posed for.

Mike actually has the weekend off, and we are enjoying just watching football and hanging out with the family. Life is good!

Carson's first college football tailgater...CU vs. FSU

We had a really fun weekend. On Friday, I got to see all my friends in the CHS Social Studies department at a BBQ, and then we played Texas Hold'em poker at our house. On Saturday, Carson enjoyed his first ever tailgate event at Folsom Field in Boulder when the Florida State Seminoles came to town. Who doesn't love that college atmosphere?? Cars were driving by with people hanging out the windows doing the Seminole Tomohawk chant, and CU students (most intoxicated) were marching around yelling the CU fight song and hoping more people would join in. Many of these students were wearing capes, which of course I appreciated. :)

Andy and Beth Bouchard came into town for the game from Indiana for the big event and it was SO GREAT to see them! They brought Carson an assortment of Notre Dame attire--he can represent for the Fighting Irish (although they are NOT GOOD this year).

On Sunday we went to Church and got to see Bryan deliver a GREAT sermon as a guest priest at St. Mark's Church. For those of you that don't know, Mike's older brother Bryan is a Catholic Priest in Aniston, Alabama. He came into town for the Scottish Festival and we have really enjoyed hanging out with him! Carson sure was comfortable sleeping with Uncle Bryan...

GREAT WEEKEND!! :)

This morning was for the birds!!!

Ok...so Carson had a doctors appointment today at 10:40 a.m. in Littleton (approx 50 minutes away), so I wanted to be ready to go with everything set by 9:45 a.m.. Everything was going PERFECTLY to the plan:

I got directions on MAPQUEST, I fed the baby and put him to sleep for another 2 hours, I showered, I got the diaper bag ready (yeah--it has taken me A LOT of tries not to forget something!!), I ate breakfast, I took care of the Dog.....I even wrote a couple of thank you notes!!

Then all hell broke lose.

I had to feed Carson almost right up to when I wanted to leave, which was no big deal until I put him in his carseat so I could take the dog out to "outside potty"...the rest goes like this:

9:40 a.m.--come back inside with Kava who immediately runs upstairs and gets under the bed to avoid going in his kennel. Irritating.

9:42 a.m.--out of the corner of my eye, I see Carson spit up ALL OVER the carseat, and as I go over to him he spits up two more times. He is SOAKED and the carseat is too. The Dog is still under the bed. I say "Oh crap--I gotta change this kid and I don't want to be late" and I yell upstairs "Kava you better get down here NOW!!"

9:44 a.m.--I am cleaning up my poor child and trying to dry up the carseat. There is spit-up everywhere, and I can honestly say that this was the WORST spit up yet...period. The Dog is still under the bed. I say "What the @!#@%& is going on here??? This is $#%#$ gross!! @!##%% you Dog, you better get down here if you want to live"... I also called Mike to let him share this stressful moment with me. :) He successfully talks me down from the edge...

9:50 a.m.--Carson has a new outfit on, but he isn't at all jazzed about getting back into his carseat. I finally get him loaded up and in the car. The Dog is still under the bed. I go get Kava's leash, and when he hears this he comes sprinting downstairs, looks at the expression on my face, and sprints into his kennel and lays down. Good for him--smart to pick his battles wisely.

9:52--I'm on the road not quite 10 minutes late, but pretty frazzled. Needless to say, a few cars received some commentary (you are an @#!@% !!!) on my drive to the doctor, but we arrived at 10:45 for the 10:40 appointment. Mike met us there, and had taken care of all of the paperwork.

Afterwards, Mike fed Carson a bottle at the nearby outlet mall while I looked around in Baby Gap to calm the nerves a bit. Mike is really a GOOD GUY--I don't know what I would do without him :)

The baby is sleeping now, but man--what a morning. I'm sure it won't be the last...

Estes Park Scottish Festival 2007

We had a GREAT time is this weekend at the Estes Park Scottish Festival. We have been going to this event for the past 12 years, but this year was extra special because we brought the whole family (yes, even Kava the dog made the trip)! Carson was an absolute angel all weekend and did great sleeping in the pack-in-play in our hotel room.

On Friday night, Carson got some quality time with Daddy when I went to the Military Tattoo with Mom and Dad, Bill, Kevin and Collin, and Bryan (Mike's older brother who is in town). One of my favorite groups attended the festival this year, and they performed at the Tattoo--The 78th Highlander Regiment from Nova Scotia. They are absolutely phenomenal!

On Saturday, the whole family worked at the Tartan Information tent on the field where people can find out if they have Scottish roots. Bill and Sue are Benefactors of the festival, so it is a family tradition to come help out! It is worth it, because we get free tickets to anything we want all weekend!

The Thompsons came this year after missing last year, and our God-children Ethan and Hannah got to meet Carson for the first time. What cute pictures, eh?

We love going to the Scottish festival--there is so much tradition and so many friends that we get to see there that we sometimes don't see again until the next year. Carson was definitely a popular attraction, and he spent most of his time SLEEPING--even through cannons firing and bagpipes blaring! :)

We came home Sunday afternoon a little tired, but happy that we went and excited for next year when Carson will fit into his cute little Kilt and join the ranks of the scottish MacClaren Clan!

Thank you to Phyllis Brown for some of these pictures--it was great to see you guys up there :)

All you experienced Mothers out there--a little help please

Carson is an amazingly good baby unless he has a lot of gas. Then, it seems like the world might end because he seems to be in so much pain. We have only had 2 really bad episodes of almost 24 hours of fussiness, but it is still obvious that Carson struggles at every feeding to digest without gas issues. We have been using Mylicon, but it isn't as effective as I would have hoped...

So my question is: have you heard of Gripe water http://www.colicease.com/? It seems like something good to try (I still need to call my pediatrician) and I am wondering if any of you have used it. Please let me know!!

We are heading up to Estes Park for the Scottish Festival this weekend. Carson already has a kilt, but it is a little big yet for him to wear. Rest assured he will NOT be regimental until he stops pooping in his pants. :)

It starts early...

Here is Carson meeting Maryn Rose Shellberg for the first time--that's my boy trying to grab Maryn's tush already :)! Natural instinct is a crazy thing, eh?

Labor Day weekend has been fun. We watched CU beat those pesky CSU Rams on Saturday, and yesterday we drafted for Fantasy Football. Let the fun begin!