Sister Weekend!

Labor Day Weekend we headed down to Philomath for the first overnight trip with Carter...to spend time with Amber, Teag and Jenaye at Grandma and Grandpa's! I was so excited for some sister time, and as you will be able to see, we made the most of it :)

Amber and Teag arrived late on Friday the 7th, after Olivia had already gone to bed. Teag did get a chance to meet Carter. It was so precious! He just couldn't get enough of Carter, holding his hand, giving hugs, and grinning the entire time. After about fifteen minutes Carter had had enough and got pretty fussy, but I think Teag would have sat there all night. What a sweet boy!

The next morning was the opening game of BEAVER FOOTBALL! Carter's first game, and Alex's first in a couple years. We also took our first family picture that morning! I don't know how it got forgotten in the hospital, but it did...so we took one in our Beaver gear...just the way it should be :).

 



Some sibling time on the Beaver Bus. I was really glad to have a place to get out of the loud and warm of the tailgate. We kept Carter comfortable, and none of us were stressed out before the game.

 

Yay for great aunts! O spent about ten minutes going through Ashley's legs over and over.

Not quite sure how this worked out...I think maybe Max got hungry while he held Carter and needed assistance?

Little feet :)

Carter slept through a majority of the first half, but he woke up just a little while before lunch time, so we tried on the sound proof head phones. Yes they are pink...he obviously wasn't a fan. However, his big sister thought they were awesome, she put them on and just yelled...guess she couldn't even hear herself :).

And yay again for fun aunts! I spent most of the game wearing Carter (in the Moby wrap), so Olivia split time between Alex, Mary, Ashley, and Amber. Amber spent a few minutes explaining the game - what I remember went like this 'all the big guys get ready, get the ball, hit each other, fall down...YAY...and we start again!'

What? The Beavs beat Wisconsin!! Just another part of a perfect weekend!

Teag stayed home with Jenaye during the game, so when we went home was the first real opportunity to play! The kids went outside, and Teag gave Olivia throwing lessons, then Jenaye gave her hoola-hoop lessons :).

Putting the cat foodback into the container. At first I was concerned that he was eating it, but he actually picked up about 10 pieces and put them into the bowl.

'Ii-uhhh-noo'...I can just hear it now. Olivia's favorite phrase, 'I don't know', complete with the arm movement. For about a month the answered every question this way...so glad I was able to capture it!

On Sunday we went to church with the family, then to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner.

The 'peac-urky' in Grandma and Grandpa's yard

Playing...I have no idea why or how Amber ended up with both kids upside down, but you can tell from their faces that this is a normal occurence for Teag, and Olivia is having the time of her life...most of the time O and T played around each other, but they didn't fight over toys too much :).

On Monday we all went to the Bounce House in Corvallis. We wanted to do a fun kid activity while they were together, but we didn't realize that T was completely terrified of bouncing! After spending most of the time trying to show Teag how fun the bouncy things were, we found the ball pit, where he was happy to throw balls out for Alex to rescue. Just as our time was running out, O had a big spill in the lobby, and ended up with a split lip. Her first big injury was pretty deep, but didn't go all the way through, so we didn't go to Urgent Care. I'm sure our first trip there will come, but I was glad not to have to spend an afternoon there this weekend.

I love Teag's concerned face in this picture...not angry or wanting to stop holding him, just watching, trying to make him happy. I should note that Carter spent a lot (A LOT) of his first three months crying. We quickly learned just to go with it, but we did get lots of funny looks from people in the grocery store, or out in public when we just let him cry. I was very impressed at how calm Teagen stayed, because Olivia usually got sad every time she heard him sad. Let's just say we had crying kids most of September and October.

Tuesday morning we played for a while before heading back home. We took a great grandma picture, despite grumpy C and messed up lip on O.

 

I can't even say how fun this weekend was. I hope that my kids get lots of time playing with their cousins, just like I want to have lots of sister time while my kids grow up! I write this post two weeks before we see all of the Johnson cousins again for a weekend...so exciting!



September 1-7

September! We were starting our first fall as a family of four, our first fall with a fully walking/running/playing toddler, and our first fall back in Oregon. On the first, we also discovered that Carter had grown out of his first onesie! His little head was not so little when he was born. so we had some hats already in the 'too small' pile, but it seemed like a big step to grow out of an actual piece of clothing! Here is a picture of our little sleeping prince looking so big in his bouncy chair.

 

Sunday the 2nd of September was a very crafty day. I got in this super-charged mom state, really feeling like I needed to nurture and teach Olivia more. I had really been letting Alex, Mary, Gary, and Ashley do a lot of the playing while I was healing, and I had a few days of really feeling good. So we made cookies! Amazing chocolate chip oatmeal cookies that Olivia helped me make. I won't tell how much of that dough touched fingers that spent a LOT of time in her mouth :). She was really helpful, but didn't really want to wait for the cookies to bake.

That evening we also made homemade pizza! I'll admit that I bought the dough and the sauce, but it was still quite an experience. O had a blast, and even though it was more expensive and not as tasty as $5 Little Ceasars, we will do it again I'm sure :).

 

Some neighborhood friends...

Another sibling picture fail :). I had seen a really cute diaper picture on Pinterest of the big sister holding little sister, so I had to try...I just like kids in cute clothes I guess...no more naked pictures

I really like when O decides she is a grown up and does grown up things...like sitting in Grandpa's chair, reading Grandpa's magazine...she is really independent when she thinks nobody is watching :).

Some more first time visitors! Great Aunts Lorri and Julie...I don't know why I only got a picture of one, but we loved having all of our family visit and meet Carter for the first time.

A beautiful face after making a HUGE mess of her clothes at breakfast...love this girl!

And I love this boy...and his crazy eyes. From about one week old he would often have eyes like he was terrified out of his mind. I guess that's what entering this world will do for you! He also spends a lot of his time grunting and groaning. It's a little shocking coming from silent Olivia, but Carter seems insistent on proving his manliness to everyone who is around.

Later in the week we did another pinterest activity! This was a pan of baking soda, with colored vinegar for dropping. Olivia wasn't amazing at using the dropper, but she could empty it if I filled it, and loved the whole thing. She spent about twenty minutes making her bubbly art, before we just dumped it all in for a huge mess...

Crazy hair that we were just trying to keep out of her hair...here's to hoping that Alex did this hair! I honestly can't remember, but it was a good one :).

Yes another failed sibling picture :)

The morning of the 6th, Alex had an interview, so I was running solo for the first time. This is my picture proving that I actually managed to get the kids dressed and outside all by myself! This time with two kids has taught me to appreciate the little accomplishments :)

The caption for this next picture is 'self, self, self'. O didn't want any help putting on her socks and shoes, so I got to practice the skill of helping without her knowing :)

I would say another sibling picture fail, but I love that they are looking at eachother

Holding his plug in for the first time. I'm realizing now that his first bottle was purple, the first plug accomplishment was pink...I'll admit that we use what we have, regardless of color. His bouncer that we keep upstairs is pink, and some of his socks may or may not have butterflies on them...