A Somber Thursday

For Karsen's 11 week birthday (on Thursday, August 21st), we went to a memorial service for my grandfather's cousin, Ron Erickson. (You can read his obituary here.) This was actually Karsen's second funeral and he's not even 3 months old yet!
The first memorial we went to was on July 6th for my dad's uncle, Tom Smart. (You can read his obituary here.)
It was just Karsen and I who went, as the service was held while Tim was at work. We actually picked up my mom and then met my dad there.

After the service, we went over to the burial site, which also happened to be in the same cemetary that my grandma is buried. After the service at burial site for Ron, the 4 of us went over to Grandma LaRue's grave.

Tried to get a picture of 4 generations - Karsen was hungry and turning his head in search of food:
3 generations (please don't judge my hideously white legs!):

On a brighter note, Karsen recently discovered his hands and enjoys bringing them up to his face and sucking on them. There have been times that I have woken up to the sound of him sucking on his hands - he's a loud sucker!

Still more posts to come...

Love, Michaela

Karsen's New Balloon

Karsen really likes balloons (as I posted before here). His previous balloons finally bit the dust so we decided to go get him a new one. Two Sundays ago (August 16th), we went to Party City since they have a ton of balloons to choose from there.

Picking out a new balloon - so many to choose from!

He found the one! A Cars balloon!
Once we brought it home, he was enthralled with the balloon:

It's such a huge balloon!

We'll see how long this one lasts before we have a to go get a new one. I wonder what we'll get next, Sponge Bob? Elmo? Haha!

Love, Michaela

A Wedding Up North

Two Saturdays ago on August 15th (yea I'm just now getting around to blogging about it), we headed up North for the wedding of one of my co-workers, Jennifer. The wedding was at the Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, WA - which is at the border of Washington and Canada.

It's supposed to take about 2 hours to get there, but as we were running a bit late (I'm usually late by myself, but add a baby into the mix and I'm super late everywhere!) it only took just over an hour and a half to get there, thanks to Tim's driving! :)

We got a bit lost once we got to the resort, but we managed to find the place with only a few minutes until the start of the ceremony - thank goodness for the free valet parking!

The ceremony was so beautiful! We were all looking out over Semiahmoo Bay with White Rock, British Columbia, Canada in the background. The weather was perfect too! (It rained the day before, so I was nervous for them because I knew the ceremony was outside.)

I had to steal this picture from Jennifer's Facebook page because the pictures I took of the ceremony aren't that great. Beautiful, huh?

Of course Karsen was hungry as soon as the ceremony started, but we brought bottles. Tim ended up taking Karsen away from the ceremony because he was too fussy while the bottle was warming. (Best idea ever courtesy of our friends Walker and Tiffany - take hot water in a Thermos and use the lid to put water in to heat bottles on the go.)

After the ceremony, everyone made their way over to the reception area for a cocktail hour while dinner was prepared. The cocktail hour was held on a pier still overlooking the bay and Canada.

Karsen enjoyed being outside:

We also took the opportunity to get a few family photos:

For the reception dinner, we sat at a table with a bunch of my co-workers and we had a great time! And of course they all loved seeing Karsen again!

Karsen and Adrienne, who is covering for me while I'm out on maternity leave:

Karsen and Gwen, my boss's boss and Adrienne's mom:

Karsen and Tracy, my boss:

Tim and Karsen sitting at the table: Another family photo op - at the table:
Announcing, Mr. and Mrs. Chris Hannon:
Jennifer and Chris made their way around the reception to talk to all the tables and I had to get a picture of them with Karsen:
After dinner, of course it was time for cake, which was beautiful! Jennifer has a love for cupcakes, hence the cupcakes:The cutting of the cake: And then the first dance:
When everyone else went out onto the dance floor, I took Karsen out for a spin or two:
After some dancing, Karsen worked up an appetite. Think he was hungry?

Tim fed Karsen, and then I caught this moment with the camera. I love how they're looking at each other:

And I also caught this one too, so sweet:

Just because, here are a few other pictures I stole from Jennifer's Facebook page from the photographer - the first one is so amazing!

Overall it was such a beautiful and fun wedding. Definitely a good one for Karsen's first wedding. Jennifer was such a gorgeous bride! We had a great time! Congratulations to Jennifer and Chris!

Love, Michaela

No excuse...

I haven't blogged in over a week now and I really don't have any excuse. However, I have picked up a new hobby that has been taking up most of my free time lately - more on that later.

Working on posts to come in the next day or two:
-My co-worker's wedding
-Karsen's new balloon
-Tim's baking experiment
and a few others.

Stay tuned!

Love, Michaela

2 Month Dr Appt

Also last Tuesday (August 11th), Karsen had his 2 month checkup with his pediatrician. I was dreading the appointment because I knew that he had to get a couple of shots, and no one looks forward to shots.

Here he is fast asleep in his car seat while we waited in the waiting room - little did he know what was about to happen:

First things first - get undressed and get his weight:
Then the nurse got his length measurement:

Next was the head circumference:

Then we waited for the doctor to come in and exam Karsen:

Dr. Robin came in and listened to his heart beat:

He's not so sure what's going on:

Then she checked his ears, which he does not like at all:

Then she put him on his tummy to check his head strength - I did tell he that he had rolled over earlier that day and they she seemed impressed:

After the doctor was done looking at Karsen and told us that he looked perfect, we had to wait for the nurse to come back in to administer the shots to Karsen. When she came back in, she told us that he would be getting 5 different vaccines, one would be orally and the other four would be combined in two shots, one in each thigh. Also, some of the side affects of the vaccines could be diarrhea and/or a fever - yay...

Karsen listening to the nurse explain what was about to happen:

First was the oral vaccine that the nurse said was like sugar water. Karsen made a funny face at first, but he didn't have any problems swallowing all of it:

Then it was time for the shots. This is the picture before:

And here is the picture during the second shot - it was a delayed reaction after the first one:

Karsen was such a trooper through it all and I felt bad for him, but at least babies don't remember for too long.

Here are Karsen's 2 month stats:

Weight: 10lbs, 13oz / Percentile: 25-50%

Length (Height): 23.25" / Percentile: 50-75%

Head Circumference: 40.2cm / Percentile: 50-75%

Later that evening, Karsen started to get a little fussy and seemed to not be feeling well.

This is his "I don't feel good" face - so cute!

I took his temperature and sure enough he had a fever. Poor little guy! At least we have baby Tylenol, thanks to his Auntie Ren! It was his first time getting medicine and he did a good job taking it. I think he liked the grape flavor!

Getting medicine for the first time:

The next morning he woke up and still had the fever, so I gave him more Tylenol. Luckily the fever went away by the afternoon.

He doesn't have to go back to the doctor until October for his 4 month checkup, and he has to have shots again. Really not looking forward to that...

Love, Michaela

Tummy Time Surprise

I'm behind again in blogging...ahhh!
Anyway, last Tuesday (August 11th) I woke up when Karsen started to stir around 6:30 AM and realized that he had slept for 8 and a half straight hours! Woo-hoo! (He has since slept anywhere from 7.5 to 8.5 hours every night.)

That afternoon I laid out Karsen's playmat so that he could have a little tummy time. At first he started out on his back with his head on his little Boppy pillow and we were playing with the mirror.

I thought this picture was cute and funny:

Then I put him on his tummy to work on his neck and head strength. He likes being on his tummy most of the time and will make really cute cooing sounds while he's looking around. He's also really good at using his arms to hold up his shoulders in what they call a mini push-up.

Here are a few pictures of him on his tummy holding his head up:

While Karsen was on his tummy, he all of a sudden rolled over to his back! I was so surprised as I didn't think he would roll over for at least another month of so. Luckily the video camera was nearby, so I put him back on his tummy and waited for him to do it again!

Here's the video of Karsen rolling over for the second time ever (the clip is a little long but I promise he does roll over in it!):

I'm so proud of my little boy! And I can't believe how fast he is growing up! Before I know it, he's going to be walking and talking! (I guess when that happens that will mean it's time to have another baby! Haha! :-P)

Here is the big boy, happy after his accomplishment!

Love, Michaela

10 Weeks

Look who's 10 weeks old today!

I tried to do a little photo shoot of Karsen today and he kept putting his hands in his face and then quickly got frustrated and started fussing. I did manage to get a few pictures that I think turned out ok, but the picture above is my favorite!

Here are the better ones of the bunch:

I just love having a digital SLR camera! :-)

Love, Michaela