CHRISTMAS 2009!

So Christmas has came and passed and it was fun times here at the Carnahan House. (Well, all except a slight plumbing emergency, but we'll get there.)

The big fun started on Christmas Eve with Mommy and Daddy singing in the Desert Springs Church Christmas Choir. Titus got to enjoy the service too and the whole family got dressed up for the occasion.



Titus slept until 7am Christmas morning, but we didn't tackle the gifts and such until after breakfast and our morning nap. Here's the whole family by the tree.



Titus had lots of fun opening gifts and playing with both the wrappings and gifts alike. Here he is super excited about a book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, that had a toy worm in it.



After presents and playing by the tree, Titus was pretty tuckered out and decided to take his afternoon nap early. Mommy and Daddy were going to nap too, but Jones REALLY needed to go outside. And you know why? He wanted to see the new fountain! Oh wait, that's not a fountain, that's a busted sprinkler head posing as a fountain. Yeah... Daddy sprung into action and soon realized how bad the situation really was.

You see, if you have followed our blog for a long time, you'd know the previous owners of our home had some questionable taste and even more questionable craftsmanship when it came to the quality of home improvements. Case in point, there was no emergency shut-off valve for the sprinkler system, despite the fact that there were THREE valve boxes buried around the property. After opening the third box to find nothing in it, Daddy caved and shut the water off at the street.

Our Christmas Spirit wasn't dampened by the lack of water. We spend a lovely evening at home, playing with our new toys and snuggling on the couch. Daddy woke up at 6am today and bought a new sprinkler (with built-in emergency shut-off) and had it installed soon thereafter.

With showers running and toilets flushing once more, we completed a Carnahan family (when in Albuquerque) tradition--building a gingerbread house. We used all sorts of yummy goodies to make the house and here is a picture of the finished product with all the goodies in view.



Mommy and Daddy wanted to dig in right away,


but Titus wanted some first! Here he is licking those lips in anticipation.


I think this house may have been too sweet even for Titus.



Too Sweet indeed.

Thanks for all the Merry Christmas wishes and gifts. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed our Christmas here in Albuquerque. Just think, in only a few more weeks we'll have another little one!!

Christmas Snow

We've been enjoying temperatures in the 50's as of late here in New Mexico, so to my surprise when Titus got up this morning; we had a blanket of snow, about 2" worth. (Titus is doing lots better by the way, he's pretty well back to his normal self.)

Here are some photos from around the Carnahan house.


About 2" total of snow. Sorry no scale, but it was too cold to go place one.


Out our backdoor to the NW.


Out the sidedoor to the SW. My favorite portion of our yard.


And our roof. Good thing the sun melts this stuff quickly or we'd lose our pretty view!

Sorry no Sandia Mountain shot this morning, but me and Titus wanted to stay inside where it's warm. Maybe I'll get one later this morning.

Titus' First Haircut

Now that we've got some antibiotics in Titus, he's feeling lots better. His fever has been down all day and we decided to give him a haircut. Fortunately Mommy knows what she's doing in this department. Don't worry, Daddy doesn't feel useless here, I took pictures! And my day will come, with Christmas around the corner and about 15 packages from UPS for Titus, I'll be busy putting together all sorts of new toys very soon.

Anyway, on to the haircut. Things started off pretty well and Titus got to sit in his Bumbo chair on top of the dining room table.



But after a while, the coolness wore off and we started to get tired of sitting still for Mommy. (Daddy can relate here, haircuts take too long!) So we started to reach for the dog, moving too much and trying to get out of our chair!



Daddy had an idea! Let's give lil'man a toy I thought! Titus loves "Daddy toys", so I gave him some poker chips.



This kept lil'man busy for quite some time, but eventually we threw the chips on the floor and wanted to go chase them. So we took a break and played in the floor.



Daddy knew we'd need something big to keep us busy or else we'd be stuck with the "trendy" half head cut as seen above. So I brought out the big guns. I loaded up Mommy's Christmas present (a new Sony laptop) with a video and placed it in front of Titus in the chair. Success! Now we sat still and let Mommy cut the other side!




Having been Tiffany's longest standing client, I have to say she does excellent (albeit sometimes delayed) work, a cut above if you will. I think she did an excellent job with this haircut, but I'll let you be the judge. Here is the before and after shots.





We both think Titus looks much older with his haircut, much more like a little boy than a baby. We archived a snippet of his hair for the baby book. Speaking of baby book, it's just a few short weeks before we start on the next one!

Illness

It is extremely sad for me to tell you that Titus has Strep Throat. Poor little man, he is so hot. We have antibiotics and fever reducers in his system. The overnights is the worst. He wakes up around 5:30am all hot with fever, and just not happy. So the morning starts early for us, but he does go back to sleep for a few hours for us. We noticed him not feeling well Sunday, and attributed it to teething all his teeth. Fortunately we had a well baby doctors visit Monday afternoon. And the Dr. said, Strep throat. So after the appt. we headed to the pharmacy to pick up his medicine. He perked up after his first dose! We are so thankful. He should feel better by Wednesday afternoon. And we are blessed to have a great Dr.'s office that is actually open this weekend! So if there is any more complications we can be seen right away without having to go to an ER.

While in the grocery store waiting for the Rx, Jordan had the great idea to get me some treats!! It has been a bit hard with this no/low sodium and no/low calcium diet. Seriously how can you deny a pregnant woman her ice cream! or McDonald's french fries? So apparently Milk Chocolate doesn't have as much milk as we once thought. I can have Chocolate chip cookies! mmm... And he found orange sherbert with dark chocolate chips in it. MMMM... I am so excited. This restricted diet is not as hard as it sounds though. I know the reason I cannot have these items are more for the health of the baby than for me. So I endure this 'hardship'. :)

Late Posting...

Well there have been so many thing that have happened in the last month. I hope I can explain it all correctly. I would like to divide this post into a few different sections. There are 3 main headings, Tiffany's sickness, Titus, and Holidays. So just bear with me or skip to the heading you want to hear about first!

Tiffany's Sickness




First off, we are doing well now. On Tuesday November 17th, I was having some pain, and just thought it was normal last trimester pains. The pains didn't go away, and they finally peaked at midnight Wednesday morning. I was in so much pain, I had to wake Jordan and tell him we needed to go to the hospital. I was in tears from the pain, and my broken pride that I couldn't handle this pain. (I know silly) We arrived at the ER and they sent us immediately to Labor & Delivery. I was wheel-chaired up! The Nurse wheel-chairing me told us Titus was not allowed in the hospital. A big sign told us "Visitors under 14 years of age are not allowed in the Hospital." When we checked in we were reminded, then the nurse caring for me reminded us. Okay we get it. We told them, we don't have any family here, and we just got here and we needed a minute to get arrangements for him. After we got semi settled, we called a wonderful 'grandmother' from church. She came to the hospital at 1:30am to pick Titus up for us and kept him till the next late morning. Thank you JH! You are such a blessing to our lives.

After getting him taken care of, I was next. They gave me a shot of pain medicine, and put in an IV. (ouch) I was taken to radiology to get a look at my kidneys. Turns out I have 4 stones in my kidneys. Two in each side. But what the pain I felt was that a stone from my left kidney had 'dropped' into the ureter. The ureter is only a 1/2 cm in diameter and these stones range in size, and there is one looming that is 1cm. I could feel the pain of the stone moving through the tube raking its jagged self along my smooth tube. (ouch)

The diagnosis was good and bad. Good, because this wasn't a wasted trip to the hospital, but bad, because there isn't anything they can do for the stones while I am pregnant. 'Pain Management' was the phrase repeated so often. The biggest problem is that I am pregnant and for the dr.'s to accuratley see where the stones are, they need to do an X-Ray. Which is too much radiation for the little one in my belly. My ob/gyn was in charge of my care, and he was okay with me being on pain meds till the end of this pregnancy! That was 7 weeks! The pain meds really took care of the pain, but it also took care of my mental and physical sharpness. Jordan and I were a bit aprehensive at this prospect. I was gonna need help with taking care of Titus. The length of time prohibited Jordan from staying at home, so my dear mother offered and flew out to help us. Such a blessing.

After 2 1/2 weeks of pain management, I finally passed a stone! Oh the relief that I did pass one! It was not painful to pass, supposedly when the stone gets to the bladder it does not hurt anymore, and they can float around for a while. Then a few days later I passed another one! Oy, how many of these things are in there? But, the good thing was that I didn't have much pain and could wean off the medicine. And then since I was more myself, my mom could finally go home.
We still have to wait till this baby is born to take care of the other stones floating in my kidneys. I could 'drop' one at anytime, and go back in the hospital. With this in mind, my ob/gyn has told us, that if I am still pregnant at week 38, he will talk about inducing labor. For those who need a refresher on pregnancy, 40 weeks is full term, but most Dr.'s will not stop any labor that starts after 36 weeks. And to reassure other folks, Titus was born 38 1/2weeks. So, not really that big of a deal.

So now, here we are about a month later, no pain meds, no pain, and mom back home. Okay so I lied, I do still have pain, but it is typical third trimester pains. Back pain, fatigue, headaches and such. I have been sleeping in a recliner at night, comfortable enough, but so much more comfy than the pillow mound on the bed. I am back to taking the two naps with Titus, which makes housework a bit harder, but Jordan is helping me and is okay with the housework not getting done. Speaking of him, He was a champion through this whole ordeal. He has kept family informed of the situation along the way. He keeps assuring me that it will all be okay, and loves me. He has made some sacrifices for my well being. I Love and Thank him for being my perfect helpmate!




Titus

Titus has been attempting steps on his own! Finally he might want to walk :) He has been puttering around on his walking toys, and making other toys walking toys. He has taken 3-4 steps on his own between people. (this is also a thankful point for having Mom out here. She could bend down to help Titus when I couldn't) I am so excited, I would love to have Titus walking when the new baby arrives. Can you imagine me carrying a carseat and Titus? No way! but it is a possibility.



He has cut two molars, cutting two more, and then getting four more bottom teeth! (again thanks to mom for dealing with a fussy teething baby and a sick daughter) I am almost out of teething tablets, and we have been giving him Tylenol at times to help his pain. Poor kid. So many teeth at one time.




Holidays

Thanksgiving was just a week after the hospital stay, so we were not too sure about it. But we made it, with double the topping and all! We have a few friends who are also out here with out family and we all have Thanksgiving dinner together. I got to bring sweet potato casserole, and pumpkin pie cake. yummy! I was at this point still on pain meds, but I was so happy to get to cook, and my mom helped so much. We had dinner while Titus napped and then we played and enjoyed each others company. Mom joined us and had a good time too. Titus explored the stairs and climbed up and down like a pro! so much fun.

We have a tree! We told most people that we would get a tree as soon as we have kids to enjoy it, and now we do. It is prelit, but no ornaments yet. Sorry, I kinda have been busy. But I do have other decorations up. It does feel like Christmas around here! We are excited to be a part of the Christmas Eve choir at church. We really enjoy the festivities around here for the holidays.

10 weeks to go!

just wanted to share our pictures with ya!

Play date

Little Miss Nellie came over today to hang out. Her Mom had somewhere to be, so it was just her, me and Titus. She is about 6 weeks younger. And yes those are Lego's they are playing with. They really just threw them around, but they get really excited when you pull them apart! They shared the toys so nicely, I was proud.

November!

So it is November, the start of many gatherings. I think that the next two months, as usual, is going to fly by. Then January is going to slow down to a halt, just in time for the us to hurry up and wait for the new baby. Lauren is not too far from her due date, and I am feeling the impatience for her new little one. What am I gonna do for our own little one! Crazy huh?

On another note, we did have a friend just give birth to a beautiful little girl. She is two weeks after her due date, and had a emergency c-section. Sad, but they are both fine. We went to visit them. That little girl was so tiny! 8lbs., but so tiny! Jordan and I both thought back, and couldn't remember Titus so small, and he was 7lbs. Not that he is that big now, but he is so much more robust. He doesn't seem so fragile. I look forward to this new baby, but I don't really look forward to the fragility of such a little one.

Pumpkin Carving

We went to a friend's house last night for an annual pumpkin carving event. This is Titus' second pumpkin carving at the Jungels. If you need a reminder of 2008, check it out here.

We opted for an easy carving this year, a piratety skull & crossbones, but it turned out great.



In fact, all the pumpkins were impressive.



I know everyone loves pictures, so here they are the babies in full costume.




Titus came as a true Kentucky Pioneer, complete with buckskin tunic and kecks, coonskin hat, hatchet and rifle. His costume was hand made with love (and with no pattern btw) by none other than Mommy.



There was a newcomer to the party this year, little Sara Jane Yaklin. She came as a ballerina, with toe shoes and a hand-made tutu.



We don't know what to expect on our new street this year in terms of kids, but we think we are ready. There are 14 lbs. of candies ready to distribute. Let's hope that's enough.

Pumpkin Patch!

Our Realtor's company held a Fall festival/Pumpkin patch for their 10th anniversary. We had such a great time. We got pumpkins, and our first caramel apple! Enjoy the photo's, cause we really enjoyed ourselves!

Titus loved crawling around in the hay, and hitting the pumpkins.

These are the ones Titus helped pick out!


Just look at that face! he absolutely Loved Daddy's caramel apple.He couldn't get enough! I think he might have ate more than daddy.

just an update

Sorry for the delay in posts. Nana came to visit, and we had a great time! Then I got sick. So, I have been resting and getting better. The Doc says I just have a cold, but boy this is a pretty bad cold. So thankful that I did not get the flu, or the ever so popular H1N1. We have friends at church that, sadly, they caught the bad bug. To quote one of their kids, "daddy please take me to the hospal (hospital). Please I feel yucky". Isn't that so sad!! I am so glad Titus isn't sick and he can't tell me that.
But, I feel that I am on the mend, so hopefully I will have the energy to post more soon!

A New Day

Now that Titus is over a year old, the food he can have is so much more diverse. Now that his digestive system is fully developed, he can have cow's milk. We have gone through all the "allergy" foods, and thankfully no allergies! We can have milk, eggs, cheese, yogurt and corn! Two items are still on the 'no list', are nuts and honey. Nuts because of the chance of such a bad reaction, and honey because of botulism. It is great to just make us all a meal, not two separate meals. But soon it will be back to the two separate meals, for the new baby coming.


We have also found the playground next to our home. Now that I have enough energy to walk that far with the stroller, we have visited a few times. Since Titus still isn't walking, we can only do the swing, but boy does he love it!

Mid way belly #2!

Birthday Party!

So the weekend finally came and we had our birthday party at home. Very big thank you to all those who mailed cards and gifts from miles away. A special thanks for all those who came to our house to celebrate. I believe we had around 25 guests, including 10 children under 5. It was a blast. Titus didn't know what to think of it all at first, but he settled in and had a great time too.

He remembered from Tuesday what a birthday cake was and was a little more aggressive this time around. After a quick bath, we were ready to play! He loves all his new toys, videos and clothes and played with them until he tuckered out at bedtime. Thanks again to everyone for making Titus' birthday a very special one for both baby and parents.

You can see a slideshow of all the pictures from the party on the upper right side of the blog. Click the photos to make the show load in a new window, and in larger size.

One Year Pictures

Check this out this cutie!

Staleyphotography.blogspot.com

So what's a first birthday without cake? We made Titus a small cake just for him and put all kinds of yummy frosting on it (homemade from bananas as to not sugar shock him) and let him have at it. Here the cake is served and Titus is very interested (as is Jones).



Once the cake was placed before him, we knew ANYTHING could happen. Here we can see Titus pondering how to attack the bountiful birthday baked-good.



The result... actually kinda boring. Titus pulled off the Cheerios one by one, placing them neatly on the side of the plate. He tasted the frosting and SUCCESS, he likes it!



Although we didn't grab fist-fulls of cake, we did try several small bites and the cake maintained our interest for well over 15 minutes. Here we are applauding the birthday chef, Mommy!



After Titus felt he had sufficiently displayed the proper birthday pleasantries, he decided it was time to get down to business. Which for him was plopping the whole cake in his lap! Here we were able to pinch off bites for ourself AND share with our bestest buddy Jones.



After we were finished eating and playing with our cake, Mommy and Daddy quickly realized that it was time for a bath. We also discovered that homemade banana frosting is the stickiest substance known to man. Move over Gorilla Glue, you ain't got nothing on this. We soaked and scrubbed and splashed for quite a while and snapped this lovely gem of Titus staring his Mommy down, presumably wondering why she wasn't in the tub with him and Daddy.



All in all we had a great birthday. Thanks to everyone who called to wish us a happy day and for singing to us. Look for more pictures of birthday fun after our big party on Saturday!

One Year Old!

Good morning world... we are 1 whole year old today!!