Yummy!

Rice cereal for the first time today. He did pretty good! Thank goodness for bibs!

Cute Smile

Having a blast jumping!

Early Christmas in Roseau

Grandma Linda and Adam had some snuggle time.

Thankful

David had his cleft lip revised and ear tubes replaced on Thursday, November 17th.  It was a very stressful time for Pete and I.   This was David's 5th surgery, but it was especially difficult since David is getting older and understanding what is going on a bit more.  And also since Pete and I started to explain the "why" this was happening to him - that he was born with a cleft lip - and it's difficult to figure out how to start explaining that to your 3-year old!

After all the anxiety, the surgery went extremely well and David was such an amazing trooper.  We thought he would be down and out and resting on the couch for days, but he sprung right back to his normal self within a few hours......and our biggest task has been telling him to "calm down and relax" a bit!  It is so amazing how resilient children can be! 

Since everyone seems to be in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted to start my list of things to be thankful for...especially during the last week with David's surgery. 

The amazing staff at Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul.......all the surgeons, nurses, anethesiologists, check-in staff....everyone does such a fabulous job with the children and making all of the parents feel at ease with the situation.  We couldn't have asked for a better care team for David!

Grandma Peggy......thank you for coming down to take care of Adam during the surgery.  It gave us one less thing to worry about and we knew that he was in good hands and would be anxious to be re-connected with his older brother after surgery!  Thank you also for making all the wonderful meals for us!  Thanks also to Grandpa Dave for letting us borrow her for a few days!

Brothers & Sisters.........I am so thankful that my sons have each other.  The brotherly bond is absolutely amazing!  I am also so thankful that I have my sisters and that they all care for my children so much!

Super Heroes.......I am so thankful to have "super hero"  boys who are amazingly smiley, cheerful and resilient.  They light up my life!

God......I am so extremely thankful to have been blessed by God who has provided me with a wonderful family.  I am also thankful for the message at church last weekend that provided these powerful verses in a very timely fashion as we were preparing for the surgery....

Philippians 4:6     Have no anxiety about anything.

Luke 1:37     Nothing's impossible with God.

Philippians 4:13     I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength.

2 Corinthians 12:9      In my weakness God makes me strong.

And last but certainly not least.......I am so very thankful to have Pete as my wonderful, caring and loving husband.  We knew that there would be trials and tribulations to go through as parents, but we didn't know exactly what form those would come in.  I am so blessed to have a partner in life to go through all the adventures of parenthood - both the good, amazing and joyful....and also the trying and stressful times!

And for everyone else that I have missed......THANK YOU!!!  Enjoy all these latest and greatest photos of the boys!

Dinner Time

Adam joined us at the dinner table for the first time in his high chair tonight! Pretty soon he'll be able to actually eat with us. He's getting so big!

Big Jumper!

We put Adam in the jumper for the first time this weekend. It was one of David's favorites and so far Adam is really enjoying it! He is getting so big so fast!

Super Hero Boys

The boys were so cute in their Halloween costumes this morning. Today is my first day back to work and when David asked me what I was going to be for Halloween, I said "Work Mom". I like "stay at home and snuggle with my kids mom" better! Adam is doing great at school - we just went to visit him and he was so interested in what all the other kids were doing.

Go Sioux!

Love the Sioux fan shirt from Grandma and Grandpa!

Super Sweet!

Thanks to our friend Steve for bringing this huge lollipop for David. It will keep him busy for awhile.....and us too as we will be cleaning the stickiness up from all around the house!

Pumpkin Carving

Fun with pumpkin seeds! David says they feel "icky". Too funny coming from a boy who loves to make messes!

Hats for a Lovely Fall Day

The boys sported their cool new hats as we went out for a fall adventure to the zoo and to an apple orchard. David has a frog hat and Adam's is a dragon or a dinosaur or something!

David thought it was winter last night

I guess fall is really here. David thought he needed snow boots last night!

Say Cheese!

We had these photos taken of the boys on Labor Day - ENJOY!

And don't worry - we'll be printing out lots of these and mailing them out!



 

Keeping Busy!

We are definitely keeping busy with two boys!  I can't believe that Adam will be 6 weeks old tomorrow!  Enjoy these photos of our latest adventures!

We made a "secret fort" in our front yard with a big umbrella to esacape the sun on the warm days that we have been having!

After trying to get David to try riding his bike since April...he's finally decided to try it now - too bad it's September and fall will be here shortly!

Adam is getting HUGE!  He is starting to get such a cute personality.  He's only smiling for Pete so far - hopefully he'll start likely Mom soon!!

David is still thrileed to be a big brother!  He is always concerned about where Adam is and what he is doing!

We went to the Minnesota Zoo and had a great time! 

Fair Food & Fun

We enjoyed going to the Great Minnesota Get Together last night with Mariah, Nick and girls.  Lots of fun was had by all.....and lots of food was eaten by us, too!  Here are some fun photos - enjoy!

Growing Boys!

A week after Adam was born, David turned 3!  We celebrated with parties at Big Marine with neighbors and in Grand Forks with family. 

Adam continues to grow and is a very easy going baby.  When we took him in for his check-up at almost 3 weeks....he was 10 pounds!  So he is definitely a happy, healthy baby!  We are hoping that he will start sleeping through the night soon...or we would even be happy with him waking up only once at night!  But we have nothing to complain about - it is a joy to have 2 boys...and David still loves being a big brother - thank goodness the jealousy hasn't set in yet (can we count on it not happening?)





We had fun spending a week at Grandpa and Grandma's house....I really liked having the extra sets of hands!!  Now we are back at home adjusting to life as a family of 4.  I have David home 2 days a week and he goes to pre-school the other 3 days.  Let's just say that 3 days of the week are quiet and calm (with the occasional outbursts from little brother!) and the other 2 days are kind of crazy.  I have gotten really good at doing art projects and making lunch one-handed!!!  We are always really excited to see Pete on those days!!  In all seriousness, we are doing great and really happy about how easy the adjustment has been!!!

Adam is Here!

We were thrilled to welcome our 2nd son to our family this week.....Adam Dohn Carlson was born on August 2nd at 2:22am.  He weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces and was 21 inches long.
Despite having to wait until August (July sounded much better!), everything went great and we are at home adjusting to having two wonderful boys!

After starting contractions around 6:30pm on Monday night and getting to the hospital around 11:00pm, Adam was born at 2:22am in the morning on the 2nd!  After oogling at our new little arrival, the three of us at the hospital were able to take a little nap before starting the day with visitors and all the hospital stuff that happens during the first day of life!

Pete went to get David in the morning and brought him over to meet his new little brother.  He has been so excited about being a big brother, so we were hoping that that excitement would continue when Adam actually arrived.  Thankfully it has!  David keeps saying how much he loves his little brother, wanting to kiss and hold him, and checking in on him when he's crying to make sure he is OK!  Let's cross our fingers that this continues!

Thank goodness Grandma Peggy came to help out with our adjustment and especially with David while we were at the hospital on Tuesday night.  When she left on Friday, it wasn't more than 2 minutes before both boys were crying at the same time.  Pete and I looked at each other and started laughing......then begging she would come back!

We will update the post as much as possible so everyone can watch our new adventures with two boys.  Even if it's just photos.....hopefully we'll be able to keep it a bit  more up to date.  Enjoy!