Happy Mother's Day 2011

1 Year Later....

I'd like to say that I'm loving Mother's Day now more than my Birthday. ha! I had such a great day. And I was spoiled rotten! My mom bought me a beautiful Lladro of a mother and son, Geoff got me a spa day to go to with another girlfriend/mommy. And then, my brother Joey got me a spa day. I received so many cards and thank you very much to everyone for thinking of me on Mother's Day.

Just like last year, we packed up and headed for the beach for Mother's Day. This time, we brought breakfast along with us, so needless to say, we were there early. We had a VERY BUSY day ahead of us, so we ate our breakfast, played for a bit in the water, and then we left.

Carson in the water with Daddy

We went home, finished cooking and packed up for my parents house. There, we spent the rest of the day with family from near and far, and close friends. Delicious food, swimming in the pool, icy beverages, laughs and great memories made for a wonderful Mother's Day.

Carson showing Uncle Milt his ducks

Click the link for Mother's Day 2011 photos:

https://picasaweb.google.com/LKEllison0281/MotherSDay2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCLGR-JvQlKyrmgE&feat=directlink

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Happy 4 Years and 1st Cinema for Carson

Today Geoffrey and I celebrated our 4th Wedding Anniversary. Whew! It seems like yesterday that we were partying in the Florida Keys and having the time of our life. Cheers to many many more!!

Last year for our anniversary, our first with Carson, he was very sick with a double ear infection. Needless to say, our priority was at home with our little guy.

This year, we attempted to go out on a date, just the two of us, but it just wasn't meant to be. We planned on going to see the movie, Source Code and taking Carson along, that probably wasn't the best movie to keep his attention. Change of plans and RIO it was.

We went to a 6:25p.m. movie, which ended up being perfect timing. We were both a little nervous as to how he was going to react, but my gut was telling me it was going to be A-OK! As the previews were showing, Carson just sat there in awe. I don't know that he really knew what in the world was going on. Then the movie started, same reaction, just watching and listening. Movie is going and going and there he is, relaxed, eating his veggie straws and M&M's watching the movie with Mommy and Daddy. What a PERFECT Anniversary.

At the end of the movie, I sat him in his own chair and he clapped when it was all over. Another sign, that the itty bitty baby is in our sweetest memories and best photos. Carson is turning into the sweetest little boy. I've said it before and I'll say it again....I loved the baby days, but toddler days are SO MUCH FUN!

And yes mothers, I did bring my 18 month old to the movies (GASP). You never know how it will go unless you try! lol. Let your kids surprise you!! :)

***RIO such a CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE Movie. I'd go see it again. Can't wait to buy it on DVD when it comes out.

A Royal Affair

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Prince William of Wales slipped a gold ring onto the finger of Catherine (Kate) Middleton today, and the couple vowed to love, comfort, honor and to keep each other in London's biggest royal wedding in three decades, and Carson and I had a front row seat to witness it. The wedding was beautiful, Kate was stunning. I had goosebumps and was overwhelmed with all of the love and happiness that surrounded the wedding.

Carson particularly liked the horses. He pointed them out as soon as they came on the screen and was just watching them. There was one point where you could clearly hear the horses feet clappering on the ground.

Of course, there are tons of bahumbuggers out there who were not interested in witnessing William and Kate exchange their vows, but aside from all the love and mushy gushy of a fairytale wedding, this was "History in the Making". I am happy to have witnessed it and to have watched with Master Carson Michael of Sunrise. hehe..He's royalty in the Ellison house.

Watching the Royal Wedding with his Mum, early this morning.

Notice the "morning" hair ;-)

Half way to 2, 18 Months Old

18 Months Old

Height: 33inch
Weight: 22lbs 12 oz

I find it very hard to believe that in just 6 months, my little boy is going to be a full-fledged toddler.

Nowadays, Carson eats whatever we are eating, however, I find him being a little bit more picky with foods that he was never picky with before. My mom mentioned the same thing. Although, no matter how picky or cranky he is, I have no failure with these snacks: grape tomatoes, pretzels, grapes, raisins, goldfish, teddy grahams, cheerios or graham crackers. As for meals, pretty much a no fail with a PB&J, Peanut butter and banana sandwich and chicken and rice. He now has 14 teeth, so he does very well chewing pieces. He feeds himself with silverware, extremely well. With 14 teeth, we brush his teeth, twice a day. Brush brush brush!


We are also considering packing up the highchair. We put his booster at the table with us and he is very content sitting with us, wherein the highchair, once he is done, he wants OUT. I have no problem packing up the highchair, more room in the house. Right now, we just leave it at its lowest level and leave his snacks and water on the tray.

Just like his momma, he has a sweet tooth. We've made a few trips up to the ice cream store by our house and he recently had his first ice cream cone, strawberry ice cream with sprinkles. That was a huge hit and not AS messy as I expected.

Carson is into EVERYTHING. He keeps us on our toes. He has perfected his fast "walk" and is turning into a run. It's always enjoyable to watch him when he is on the move.

Getting into trouble

Carson likes to try and dress himself. He knows the concept, shirt over the head, feet in the leg holes, shoes and socks on the feet. He has put a shoe on by himself a couple of times. I love when he puts our shoes on and tries to walk around. I am so grateful for my camera on my Iphone, I am able to capture all of Carson's best moments.

Trying on Daddy's shoes for size

We are still working on the potty and Carson still does very well. Where we are now: If we see him trying to go poo poo (he makes a very distinct face), we tell him, hurry lets get to the potty. He books it to the potty, and attempts to pull his pants down. Sometimes we make it, sometimes we don't. Then there are other times where he already went poo poo and goes into the bathroom and looks at us like, hello. At our 18month c/u, our pediatrician recommended that we really work with him now getting on the potty. Not to push it too much, but really practice with him, because Carson does understand the concept.

As far as napping goes, Carson weened himself down to 1 nap a day. This happened in between 15 and 18months. He goes down around 1/130 and sleeps for about 1.5 to 2 hours. As for the crib, I have 100% thrown up the white flag; Carson wins. HE HATES THE CRIB! We now have a family bed. Maybe we have had a family bed for some time now, I am just now admitting to it. ha!

Never in my life did I think that would be a situation I would be dealing with, but I've tried it all with this kid. He cried it out, I rocked him to sleep, it was on occasion that he would sleep straight through the night. Eversince we "gaveup" and put him in our bed, its a different world. We tell him its bedtime, walk him in the room, put him in bed and lay with him. He gets comfortable and just like that, he is out until 730/800 in the morning; sometimes even later. AND he doesn't wake up in the middle of the night and we ALL get a good night's sleep and wake up refreshed.

We are in the process of converting Carson's crib to a big boy bed. We are thinking if we make it a bed and it is not a crib, we can slowly wean him out of our bed and into his room. It's really trial and error. Eventually, everything will fall into place. I have faith that with enough mistakes, we will figure it all out. haha.

As you will recall in a previous blog post, he repeats what we say. However, I think I posted that too soon, because he repeats what we say, when he feels like it. All of a sudden out of nowhere, he will repeat a word. But, for the most part, he babbles and babbles and tells us stories and points to everything. We so badly just want him to spit it out, but that day will come, soon enough. We have our flash cards, we do the colors, he knows the animals when we ask him to point to the duck or dog, etc.

Our evenings and weekends are spent making memories with Carson. The fact that we are both full time working parents, we cherish every moment with him. We recently took him for his first ride in the bass boat in the lake behind our house. Geoff went fishing and we sat there and he pointed out the birds and the lily pads. Not even a whine about the life jacket. Even if he did whine, its jacket or no boat.

On the boat in our backyard

When Geoff is working or busy on the weekend, I sometimes take Carson to the beach. At first he wasn't crazy about it, but now he loves it. He enjoys digging in the sand, playing in the surf. He is all ready for the summer in South Florida.

Carefully carrying his "building" water to the castle

We have toyed with the idea of Carson starting pre-school in the Fall. We have gone back and forth, researched different pre-schools, did the numbers for price and compared. My last decision was to ask the pediatrician what his thought was on Carson attending at 2 years old. His response, "not unless you want to see me more often". That being said, we are going to hold off until next summer or Fall, being closer to 3 years old.

We have so many big events coming up this summer. Our biggest, we are super excited for is Carson's 1st Memorial Day trip to the Florida Keys. Last time he was there was in Mommy's belly....Stay tuned.. :)

The Ellison Family Vacation

The Big Ellison Family Vacation! Our vacation plans started with traveling to Madison, FL for Jacqui and Griff's Wedding, which I have to say was beautiful and so much fun! We decided to rent a camper instead of doing the whole hotel thing and eating out, etc. THE BEST WAY TO GO!! We headed out on Thursday and made our first stop in Wildwood, FL, which is just outside out Gainesville. To those who have never traveled outside of Broward County, you have to do it. North Florida has so much to offer, we fell in love!

Carson loved the camper. It was a new toy to him. He liked walking around and constantly inspecting everything. We stayed at a KOA and Wildwood and the experience was great, again loving it much more than a hotel. The convenience of being gone for a week and having everything you need right there, perfect!!

This was our setup in Wildwood.

In the morning we packed up to head to Madison, FL for Jacqui and Griff's wedding. We brought along with us our neighbor's Polaris "sidebyside". I wasn't all for it in the beginning, just thought of it as another hassle, but Carson LOVED it. If even for a second he thought Geoff was going for a ride, he was running as fast as his little feet would take him to get to the 4wheeler. HE was even content just going in circles. It was wonderful being in the "country". In the morning we would wake up, make breakfast, go outside and play. One night we sat by the fire and Carson roasted his first marshmallow for his first s'more. Of course I passed down my sweet tooth to Carson because that kid LOVED every bit of that s'more. The last night we were in Madison, he fell asleep by the fire. I think he is ready for country living. During the day, he hunted acorns with Aunt Patty and became a filthy mess. Gee, is this what kids did before electronic games and tv, actually played outside. ;-)

At the fire

Carson and Geoffrey going for an afternoon ride.

At Jacqui and Griff's Wedding. Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Bishop!

After leaving Madison, our journey led us to Crawfordville to visit with very good friends of ours, the Morgans. Having the camper, we just pulled along side their house and once again, very convenient. While there we went to Shell Point Beach Park. At this point, Carson was still not fond of the sand or water. It took him quite some time to get used to it, but after watching Travis and Chase have so much fun and inch their way in the water more and more (when Daddy wasn't looking), he was all for it. He was playing with the boys in the sand and even inched into the water, just up to his ankles. Travis and Chase were very good with him and extremely patient.

At Shell Point Beach Park (panhandle, aka, the bend)

The next day we packed up the kids and met my cousin, Lori at Wakulla Springs. We had a great day and the weather couldn't have been better. We took the river boat up and down the spring and Carson's attention was focused on all of the wildlife. We saw tons of birds, turtles and alligators. We may not be so excited when we see a bird, but a bird to Carson is like gold. He gets so excited, "bir, bir, bir".

After the boat ride, I made sure Carson and Geoff, stuck their toes in the water. I've been in a spring before, but these boys have not. The water, year round, is between 68 and 72. Burrrr...

Because of Carson's practice the day before, no issues with playing in the sand and getting his feet in the water.

At Wakulla Springs

From there, we left Crawfordville to head to Tallahassee to visit with my cousins, Lori and David and their two dogs, Chai and Chloe. The weather was beautiful, we spent the rest of the afternoon outside, drove around the 4wheeler and Carson had a great time with all of that yard to run in with the dogs.

The next morning, Lori took us to the Tallahassee Museum. I was expecting a museum, inside, cold, ya know, a museum. This was the best museum ever. It was almost as if we were at a zoo, covered in the most beautiful cypress trees and happy animals everywhere. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time there and couldn't help but fall even more in love with North Florida. Carson is very interested in the animals, so all it took was one glance and he would mumble up a storm about this animal and that. The only time he was hesitant was Geoff holding him up to the rail. He was holding on to Geoff for dear life.

At Tallahassee Museum

Carson playing outside at Lori and David's with Chai and Chloe! He had so much fun!

We left late that afternoon to start heading home. Since this was our first long trip with Carson, we tried to do the leg of the trip while he was sleeping. He was not a happy camper if he was awake in the car seat. Therefore, we drove to Gainesville, stopped at Cracker Barrell and had dinner. Went in the camper, changed him, got him ready for bed, jammies and all. He was out as soon as we were back on the highway. We drove to Orlando and stopped for the night and drove the rest of the way first thing in the morning, again when Carson was sleeping.

Carson was very well behaved on the trip. Geoff and I both agreed that it was very hard to go back to work after spending so much time with him.

It was the BEST family vacation. I know Carson may not remember all of this one day, but he can always look at all of the photos and know where he went as a child. Who knows what the Springs will be like in 20 years, if the beach in the gulf will be as beautiful as it was or if the Museum will still be around.

The older he gets, the more fun he gets!!

ALL OF OUR VACATION PHOTOS ARE VIEWABLE BY CLICKING ON CARSON'S PHOTO ALBUMS!