The Freitags

Orange Soda

2010-09-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

I am not a fan of very many kinds of soda. Most times you will find me drinking a cola (Pepsi all the way!), the occassional Sprite or 7up and every once in awhile orange soda!!

I was having a glass of orange soda with lunch yesterday and since Karsen has been working on his straw skills, I decided to let him try it.

Not much was happening with the suction so I caught some in the end of the straw and put it in his mouth that way.

His reaction is priceless!!

I can't stop watching this! It's so funny!

I guess it's safe to say he's not a fan of orange soda like his mom. That's ok, that just means there's more for me!

Love, Michaela

Hello. Again.

2010-08-31T11:30:00.000-07:00

Yep. We're still alive!

And yes, I did make the blog private for awhile. I didn't single people out - only I was able to view it. I just hadn't posted in so long that I decided to hide it for awhile.

I hope to keep up with blogging again...but I have said that before and look what happened!

I don't have much to write about now, so here's a video of Karsen playing with one of our dogs, Turi.

Love, Michaela

To Grandma Dana...

2010-05-11T17:40:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Grandma Dana!!!!

Love, Karsen

The Easter Bunny

2010-03-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the Mill Creek Town Center for their Easter event that they were having. There were a bunch of people and kids there and luckily it was a really nice, warm and sunny day! Karsen is too young still for most of the events that they had going on, like the treasure hunt, but we went to see the Easter Bunny!

There were two places in the center doing Easter Bunny pictures, one with a person dressed as a bunny and the other with a real live bunny. I really wanted to have Karsen's picture taken with the real bunny, especially since I find Easter Bunny costumes kind of creepy, but the place with the real bunny was just too expensive for us, especially with me not working right now. Maybe next year.

I got Karsen all dressed up to see the Easter Bunny and he looked really cute (not that I'm biased or anything, hehe!)

Here is his picture:

Karsen did really well with the Easter Bunny holding him, he didn't cry or anything! Hopefully he will always be that way, but we'll see next Christmas with Santa. Our friends, the Brooks family, went to see the Easter Bunny too. Their 2-year-old son, Kai, didn't want to have anything to do with the Easter Bunny. So they only got a picture of their 3-week-old son, Jette, with the Easter Bunny. Gotta love toddlers! Haha!

Love, Michaela

A Fresh Start

2010-03-25T15:17:00.000-07:00

I'm back!

It has been WAAAAY too long since I've blogged and I'm hoping to keep up with it...again.

A lot has happened in the past couple of months since I really blogged about what we've been up to. However, instead of trying to play catchup and blog about everything that has happened since our trip to California in October (that was the last real post), I'm basically starting fresh.

To start things off, I thought I would post this video of Karsen clapping. He actually started clapping last Thursday (March 18th), but anytime I would pull out my phone to get it on video, he would stop....of course. This video is from Monday (March 22nd.)

Love, Michaela

M.I.A.

2009-12-29T23:02:00.000-08:00

So I know it has been FOREVER since I've posted on the blog and it's not because we have been doing nothing. Actually it's quite the opposite! We've been so busy lately that I haven't even had a chance to upload all my pictures off the camera!

There is so much to blog about - starting with the rest of our trip to California back at the beginning of October all the way until this past weekend - Christmas!!

You may be wondering why in the world I would even bother to blog about things that happened almost 3 months ago. Well there is a method to my madness...

I'm basically going to turn the blog into a book using Blurb. I'm calling it our family yearbook. I hope to do this every year so that we can always look back and remember things that happened and know when they did happen. This time I will have to make 2 different books, as I want to start with 2008 since that is the year that our family started...Tim & I getting married and then us finding out that we were going to have a baby! I am going to order one book from each year for Tim and I and one for each child (yes we plan on having more!)

I'm on vacation from work this week and hope to get all caught up on blogging before I go back to work on Monday, Jan 4th.

Stay tuned!

Love, Michaela

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T12:05:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!

Love, The Freitags

Aunt Deb

2009-11-16T22:28:00.000-08:00

I know this post should be more about the California trip that happened forever ago, but due to recent events I feel that I need to post this first.

This past Thursday, November 12th, we lost my Aunt Deborah (my dad's sister) to ovarian cancer.
It's been a rough and busy few days since, with family and organizing for the memorial service that was held today.

I was in charge of creating the service program and I also put together a picture slideshow to music sung by Deb (she is the best singer I've ever known!)

I thought I would share the slideshow on here:

This is the obituary that her sons wrote for her and had printed in the paper over the weekend:

Deborah LaRue BEAN

This poised, stylish, vivacious mother of 4, vocal performer, seminary teacher, and athlete finally succumbed to ovarian cancer after 57 years of a colorful and passionate life. Like her mother before her, she wasted nothing, spared nothing, and gave all she was and had to those around her. She was a Brunette, Red-Head, and Blonde and enjoyed life as each one. She is remembered by her 4 sons, 6 grand children, and the unnumbered family and friends that love and miss her graciousness, energy, and elegance.

I have such great memories of Aunt Deb and will always cherish them: singing along to songs like Savage Garden and country, getting our nails done, playing tennis in Sun Valley, and shopping! We used to love how she would always joke that my dad had her daughters!

I feel blessed and priveleged to have had her in my life! I am also grateful that Karsen was able to meet her as well, even though he won't ever remember it. At least we have picture proof.

Aunt Deb holding Karsen at the hospital, the day he was born - just over 5 months ago! Doesn't she look amazing?

I love her and will miss her terribly!

Love, Michaela

California - The Surprise Party

2009-11-12T14:20:00.000-08:00

October 10th, 2009

We got up Saturday morning and got everything ready for Kitti's surprise party. Some of us went to stores to pick some things up like the cake from Costco, and the rest of us stayed behind to decorate.

The invitations said for everyone to come at 1:00 PM. Kitti wasn't scheduled to be there until around 2:00 PM. The best part is how we got Kitti to come all the way from Vista to Linda's house in Temecula.

Map of Southern California showing how far apart Vista & Temecula are:

Linda had called Kitti earlier in the week and said that Holli (Linda's daughter) was having a party at her house for her in-laws anniversary (side note on that: their anniversary is acutally in June!) and they wanted to order some flowers from Kitti to be delivered around 2PM on Saturday. Little did she know that she was creating flower bouquets for her own party!

The cake table with the flowers that Kitti brought:

Of course since this was the first time Tim's extended family got to see Karsen, he got passed around and around! Good thing he's an easy going baby!

While we waited for Kitti and Herb to arrive to the party, Tim's Aunt Joy was holding Karsen and this is how he fell asleep!

We definitely surprised Kitti once she arrived and came around to the back patio....and I got video of it!

Do you think she was surprised? Haha! Not only was she surprised with a party, she was definitely surprised that me, Tim, Karsen, Renee and Bryan were all there! I think that may have been the biggest surprise!

The party setup:
Since everyone was taking turns holding the baby, that left me free to chat with some of the family there. I'm so glad that they have all welcomed me so lovingly into the family!

Me, Holli and Renee gossiping by the pool:

Kitti opening her presents:

Of course the grandparents got some time to hold Karsen as well and I love these next two pictures!

Karsen making sure Grandpa Herb's beard is real:

Cute! (Thanks Holli for this picture!):

It was a fun party with a great turnout! Thank you to everyone who was there and not spilling the beans to Kitti!! :-)

Up next: Pumpkin Patch

Love, Michaela

California

2009-11-07T22:44:00.000-08:00

Get ready for a blog post overload!! I'm REALLY behind and have lots to share!!

First let me start with our recent trip to Southern California for Kitti's (Tim's mom) 60th birthday....a whole month ago! (Yes, I'm THAT far behind in my posts!)

A couple of years ago we went down to California and had a surprise party for Herb's (Tim's dad) 60th birthday so we thought we needed to throw a surprise party for Kitti's 60th as well. (We actually started talking about it back in April!) Luckily Tim's cousin Linda was gracious enough to not only allow us to host the party at her house in Temecula, CA, but to open her home for us to stay there all weekend too! And by us I mean Tim, Karsen & Myself and Bryan & Renee! Thank you Linda!!!

The party was set for Saturday, October 10th but we flew down in the evening on Thursday the 8th so that we would have all day on Friday the 9th to shop and setup for the party.

I was a little nervous for the flight down there because it was Karsen's first time on an airplane and I wasn't sure how he would handle the altitude change and the overall experience. But he ended up doing a great job!

We got to the airport in Seattle and got our car parked at a site and got all checked in with our luggage checked without any problems. We had Karsen in his carseat the whole time, since we were going to check the seat at the gate anyway.
When we got to security, we of course had to take him out of his seat to put the seat thru the conveyor belt and carry Karsen thru the metal detector.
As soon as Tim pulled Karsen out of his seat, he discovered that Karsen had pooped so much that it was all over his sleeper and even on the pads in his car seat! I had to carefully carry Karsen thru security so that I didn't get any of it on myself since I didn't have a change of clothes with me.

As soon as we gathered all of our stuff on the other side of security, we headed straight for a bathroom to change Karsen. It was a good thing that we had Renee and Bryan with us to help because we had so much to carry and they waited with all of our stuff while we went into a family restroom. Thanks guys!

Thank goodness that was the only hiccup in our trip! Karsen ended up sleeping the entire plane ride and the entire trip from the airport to Linda's house, which took about an hour or so.

Karsen's first time on an airplane!!

He was such a good boy on the plane!

In California! Karsen's first time outside of Washington state!

The next morning we all got up and got ready to go shopping for everything that we needed for the party the next day. I was the last person ready (anyone who knows me really well shouldn't be surprised...haha!) and Karsen and I found everyone sitting out by the pool enjoying the sunny weather while they waited for us.

We took the opportunity to get a picture of Karsen in front of his first palm trees!

Checking out the pool:

While we were out and about in town, we all got hungry and decided to stop to grab some lunch somewhere. We passed this place called Whoo's and both Bryan and Renee said that they had really good fish tacos and wanted to go there for lunch. Neither Tim or I had ever been there (let alone heard of it) before, but it wasn't bad. We both got carne asada burritos. :)

At Wahoo's we were goofing around:
(Picture taken with my BlackBerry)

***

Later that evening, after dinner, we decided to feed Karsen some rice cereal again. We had the SLR camera with us this time and got a few shots of his messy eating.

Trying the lick the cereal off of the spoon:

I love the cereal on the tip of his nose:
Starting to get a little frustrated with this method of eating:
Even though he had such a messy face, he was still cute!

After we got Karsen all cleaned up and dressed for bed, we decided to play some pool. Even Karsen wanted to get in on the action!

Studying the layout to figure out his strategy:

It was getting late and WAY past Karsen's bedtime. Karsen had fallen asleep, but we hadn't finished playing our game yet and I didn't want to put him in bed in the other room since none of us would be in there. So we pulled the top part of the papasan chair out from the family room and used it as a make shift bed for Karsen while we finished playing. It was funny!

He looks so tiny in the papasan!

He is so cute when he sleeps!

It was a full day (and night before) but it was fun! Because there was so much that went on over that weekend, I'm going to divide different events into separate posts.

Stay tuned for more posts! Up next: The Surprise Party.

Love, Michaela

Vote for Karsen!!

2009-11-02T20:34:00.000-08:00

Karsen for babyGap Model!
Gap is holding a nationwide contest to find the next faces of babyGap and GapKids, and Karsen is entered into the contest.

About the Contest:
Gap is excited to announce the launch of its annual Casting Call in partnership with Disney Family.com - a site that provides inspiration and ideas for parents on a variety of topics important to today's families. Gap invites parents nationwide to enter babies (ages four and under) and kids (ages five to 10) into the Casting Call for a chance to be featured in the store windows of babyGap and GapKids in February 2010. Additionally, the winners will receive a VIP experience for four at Disney's THE LION KING in either New York or Las Vegas.
This year, we're also introducing the Fan Favorite, which gives your little stars a chance to win a seven-day/six-night family vacation to either Turks & Caicos or Jamaica from Beaches Resorts - The Luxury Included® Family Vacation.

How it Works:
Entries will be accepted from September 22 - October 22, 2009. Once the entry period closes, a panel of judges will narrow down all of the entries received to 20 finalists (five baby boys, five baby girls, five boys, and five girls). Those finalists will star in a professional Gap photo shoot the week of November 16, 2009. On December 7, 2009, the finalists will be announced on www.gap.com/castingcall and will be voted on by the public until December 21, 2009. The four children who receive the most votes (one from each of the categories) will be announced as the winners on February 1, 2010.

What Can You Do?
Go to the site (http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/beangyrl9/250257529/) and vote for Karsen every day between now and November 17th, 2009. The first time you go to vote, you will be asked to create an account. Don't worry, they won't sell your information. After you create your account for the first time, you can search for Karsen by entering his contestant ID number (250257529) or my member name (beangyrl9).

THANK YOU!!!

Love, Michaela

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T20:06:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Love, The Freitags

To Brandon...

2009-10-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE BRANDON!!!

Love, Karsen

Rice Cereal

2009-10-14T14:10:00.000-07:00

I have SOOOOO much to blog about!!! On Monday we got back from a quick trip down to Southern California to surprise Tim's mom for her 60th birthday - which is why I couldn't say anything about it before.

Anyway, first things first.....I have to blog about Karsen eating rice cereal for the FIRST TIME last Wednesday night! I again left my camera somewhere else and wasn't able to get any pictures of the event. At least I had the video camera!!!

The cereal was very liquidy, as that is what they recommend for the first time. And we used formula to mix with it instead of breastmilk because we knew he wouldn't eat all of it and I didn't want any of my milk going to waste since I have a hard enough time as it is getting enough for him to drink straight!

He didn't seem to mind the cereal too much...what do you think?

I really like how he's wearing a bib to help keep the cereal off of him, but of course he thinks it's a toy and is playing with it, leaving room for the cereal to fall onto his clothes anyway! Ahhh! Oh what fun babies are! ;-)

Love, Michaela

To Grandma Kitti...

2009-10-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA KITTI!!!

Love, Karsen

4 Months Old

2009-10-08T11:34:00.000-07:00

This past Monday Karsen had his 4 month checkup with Dr. Graham. I of course forgot my camera in the car, so I was only able to get these two pictures with my phone:

Here are Karsen's 4 month stats:
Weight: 12lbs, 13.5oz / Percentile: 10%
Length (Height): 24.75" / Percentile: 50%
Head Circumference: 42cm / Percentile: 50%

I guess by 4 months, babies should be double their birth weight. Karsen was 7lbs, 4oz at birth, so he should be about 14lbs, 8oz now. Well he's not, obviously. Luckily the doctor isn't concerned about it at all because she said that he's still progressing steadily every time she sees him.

Sometimes I blame myself for how skinny he is, and not because I'm usually skinny myself. It's because I feel like I'm not able to feed him enough anymore. My milk supply has seemed to decrease since I've come back to work, which is very discouraging. I finally caved about 2 weeks or so ago and let Tim give him a bottle of formula. He's had about a bottle of formula once a day since. I know that there are lots of babies who are fed formula, but I just wasn't ready for Karsen to have formula yet. All during the pregnancy, all you hear about it how much better for the baby it is for them to get breastmilk and now I just feel like a failure. He's still getting breastmilk, but he also gets formula too.

I guess just as long as Karsen is happy and healthy, that's all that really matters.

Love, Michaela

Hat Hair

2009-10-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went out to run a few errands and it was a little chilly outside even though it was sunny, so we put a hat on Karsen to keep his little head warm. I didn't get any pictures of him wearing the hat, but I did get pictures of him after we took the hat off....at least his hair is finally growing!! Haha!

This one is my favorite, I was focusing on getting his hair in the picture and didn't even know he was making such a cute face, which is why his face is kinda cut off:
Whatcha lookin at Mom?

Aren't his eyes just so cute?

The side view:

Don't worry Karsen, we weren't laughing at you, we were laughing with you! Haha!

Love, Michaela

High School Football Game

2009-10-07T19:43:00.000-07:00

Another post past due! Found these pictures on my camera and thought I ought to blog about them (mostly because I plan on turning the blog into a book at the end of the year.)

On Friday, September 18th, we went to the Eastlake High School football game where my sister Tori is a junior and on the cheer team. The school is located in Sammamish, WA. Also that night, Will Smith, Joe Montana and Wayne Gretzky were at a high school football game in Sammamish, WA too! Except they were at Skyline High School, just up the road. But hey, we can say we were that close to some famous people! So far the closest Karsen has been to a celebrity, that we know of anyway.

Karsen before we went into the stadium to find seats:

The Eastlake Cheerleaders (Tori is the blonde in the middle, looking to the side):
Karsen was cheering along too!

After awhile, he fell asleep!

Karsen was doing just fine sleeping thru all the noise of the crowd, and even thru my sister's halftime cheer performance, until the end of the routine. He was sitting in my sister Dani's lap and she cheered at the end of the routine and I think it scared him. I recorded the routine and at the end you can hear Karsen start crying!

Here's the routine:

We left just after the halftime show because Karsen was tired and getting grumpy. But it was fun to see the game and watch my sister perform! Maybe one day (in about 16 years or so) we will be going to every Friday night football game to watch Karsen play! :-)

Love, Michaela

To Tori...

2009-10-05T07:45:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT TORI!!!

Love, Karsen

Watching Kai

2009-10-04T19:51:00.000-07:00

So I'm well overdue for a post on here! It's been a crazy few weeks at work and home that I hardly have time to breathe!

With the little bit of spare time I had today, I decided to download all the pictures off my camera that have been sitting there for quite awhile now. I found these ones from when we babysat Kai back on September 11th.

Looks like they're playing!

Kai was reading to Karsen

They're so cute! Kai is very active and Karsen just loves to watch everything that Kai does.

Thanks Walker & Tiffany for letting us babysit!

Love, Michaela

PS - More posts coming soon!

Photoshoot Pictures

2009-09-23T14:27:00.000-07:00

So I have been meaning to put these pictures up for awhile now. They are the pictures that I took of Karsen on his 3 month birthday. My intent was to do some editing in Photoshop to make them a little nicer looking, or even professional looking, but I just can't figure out how to it. Anyone have any tips?

Anyway, on to the pictures!

I posted this one before, but it's one of my favorites and it's the wallpaper on my computer at work! Feet shot!
His face looks like he's talking to me in this one.
This is also one of my favorites!
Big yawn!
Bubbles!
I really like this one too!
Look at those lips!

He didn't have to go visit the doctor for 3 months but just in case anyone is keeping track of his stats:

Weight: 12lbs, 3oz / Percentile: 75%
Length (Height): About 25" / Percentile: 10-25%
Head Circumference: About 16" / Percentile: 25%

**These aren't the most accurate measurements, as they were taken by me

Love, Michaela

To the Grandparents...

2009-09-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

In 1978, President Carter declared the second Sunday in September a national holiday for grandparents. So Karsen just wanted to tell all of his grandparents...

HAPPY GRANDPARENTS DAY!!!

I love you Grandma Kitti!

I love you Grandpa Herb!
I love you Grandma Dana!

I love you Grandpa Brad!

Love, Karsen

PS - Here's a website just for grandparents - grandparents.com

Back to the Grind

2009-09-12T22:03:00.000-07:00

So I made it thru my first week back at work, not that I wasn't expecting to or anything. But it was hard.

The first day was definitely the hardest! I cried the entire way on my drive to work in Seattle from my parents' house in Redmond. I knew I would cry so I didn't put my make-up on until after I had parked my car at work.

It was a little strange to be back at work but as the day went on it almost felt like I never left. And it also seemed like my life was before Karsen and getting pregnant, just because I didn't have him with me and I didn't have a huge belly either. But I still thought about him ALL day!
Luckily we have cell phone cameras that allow me to see him during the day!

I took this one with my phone the first morning that I dropped Karsen off with my mom and sent it to Tim.

My mom sent this one to me the first morning. The caption read: "Already peed on grandma. hence the new outfit. love Karsen"
Tim sent this one to me after he had picked Karsen up and brought him home on the first day. The caption read: "Dreaming of mom coming home!"
I took this one on the second morning and sent it to Tim. The caption read: "Activity center at Grandma's"
My mom sent this one to me the morning of the second day. The caption read: "Hey mom, just woke up from a nap and wanted to say HI. love karsen"

Later on the second day, I got a text from my brother asking for my email address to send me a video. At first I thought it was going to be one of those funny videos that get sent around by email. What I got was WAY better! Thanks Brandon!

Here's the video of Karsen that Brandon took with his iPhone:

On Thursday morning (the third day), Karsen and I were running a little late because he hadn't slept that well the night before. When I went to get him ready, he was still sleepy so I decided to keep him in his pj's and just give my mom his outfit for the day to change into later. It was a good thing that I did it that way...

First I took this picture and sent it to Tim with the caption: "Still in my pjs!"

After I took that picture, my mom turned him around and said that she thought he felt wet.

This is what I saw:

He had pooped so much that it went up his back and all over the back of his pjs! I had to lay him on the changing pad on his tummy so that we didn't get poop everywhere! Like I said, it was a good thing that he was still in his pjs and was going to change into other clothes anyway!

I took that picture and sent it to Tim with the caption: "Blow out!"
His response: "Holy crap! :)" (Ok so he actually used the 's' word instead of crap but I don't want to use swear words on my blog.)

By the time Friday came I was so ready to stay at home with my little boy all day! Three days of work this week was hard enough, but next week I have to do four! Thank goodness I get Fridays off tho! :)

Maybe one day I will get to be a stay at home mom, but until then at least Karsen is with his grandma!

Love, Michaela

To Grandpa Brad...

2009-09-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA BRAD!!!

Love, Karsen

To LeAnn...

2009-09-11T08:58:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEANN!!!

Love, Karsen

First Night in the Crib

2009-09-07T22:07:00.000-07:00

Up until 2 Sundays ago (August 30th), Karsen slept in his pack'n'play in our room. Now he's a big boy and sleeps in his beautiful crib in his own room. That Sunday was the first night.

Here is the crib all set-up and ready for him:

The crib in his room:

All swaddled and ready for bed!

Looking at me like "Mom, what is this place?"

Checking out the mobile:

He didn't do too bad sleeping in this crib for the first time. We only had to get up a handful of times to plug him with a pacifier or for me to feed him. Luckily, we have a video monitor so that when he makes a sound we can just look at the screen to see if he's really awake or just dreaming, that way we don't have to go running to his room if he's still asleep.

I must admit that I cried after we put him to bed in his crib for the first time. I didn't cry because I was upset that he wasn't sleeping in our room anymore, I think it was because I was thinking about how fast the last 3 months have gone by and how he as already grown up so much in that period of time.

Speaking of the last 3 months, which is how long my maternity leave was, tomorrow I go back to work. As much as I love my job and the people I work with, I am really sad about having to go back to work because I am going to miss being with Karsen all day. At least he will be at my mom's house and not a daycare where I don't know the people who would be watching him. He'll be in good hands, after all she raised me well! ;-)

I will be getting up earlier than I used to before my maternity leave for two reasons; 1) to make sure I have plenty of time to get me AND Karsen ready for the day (it was hard enough getting just myself ready before!), and 2) I will have to drive to Redmond to drop Karsen off at my mom's, which is about 45 minutes from my house - not anywhere near my way to work, but totally worth it!

Tim gets off work at 1:30PM each day and he will be heading to my parents' house afterwards to pick Karsen up, so at least my mom won't be stuck with him ALL day (although I don't know if she considers it being stuck...).
At least I will have Fridays off each week to be with my little boy!

Tomorrow is going to be a rough day...

Love, Michaela

3 Months!

2009-09-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

This boy turned 3 months old on Friday:

I can't believe how fast these last 3 months have flown by! And I also can't believe that I have to go back to work on Tuesday! :(
I'm definitely going to miss being with my baby all day, every day.

I tried to do a little photo shoot of Karsen for his 3 months, which is what the picture above is from. I will post more when I'm done editing them.

Love, Michaela

Evergreen State Fair

2009-09-03T22:26:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday we got a call early from the Brooks Family inviting us to go to the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe for the day. I love going to fairs and hadn't been to one in a few years, so we decided to go and at least walk around with the boy since he likes being outside.

One of the first things we saw when we walked inside the gate to the fair, was the pony ride. Tiffany really wanted Kai to take a ride so we went to check it out. Turns out you have to be at least 9 months old to ride the ponies - dang, Karsen is about 6 months too young. Oh well, I guess he can go next year! But at least Kai go to do it!

He had no problem going for a ride:

I think his saddle was starting to slip to the side, luckily one of the guys working the ride fixed it:

We started to just walk around and we found a few tractors, so Walker and Kai got up to "test" one out.

Just as happy as can be!

The day started out overcast and very mild, but then the sun came out! Time for sunglasses!

Kai wearing Tiffany's sunglasses:

Me and Karsen wearing sunglasses. I'm wearing a pair of Tim's because I couldn't find mine and Karsen's don't really seem to want to stay on his nose:

We stopped for some food and then we found the animal petting area! I decided to take Karsen out of his stroller so that he could get a closer look at the animals, but I didn't let him touch any of them since he's still so young.

Getting a look at a baby cow:

Up close and personal with a baby goat:

Checking out the little pigs:

Kai wanted to check them out too:

More goats - Karsen's facial expressions reads "Can we get away from these stinky things now?"

They had a kid's area setup at the animal petting area, so we took the opportunity to take some pictures of Karsen...of course!

He didn't want to look at the camera:

I got in one of the pictures too:

After walking around all the farm animal houses, it was lunchtime for Karsen:

We strolled around the fair grounds some more and this is what Karsen did most of the time:

At 2 PM there was a Clydesdale show that we went to check out, plus it gave us an excuse to sit and rest our feet for a bit.

Just outside the arena for the show, the Brooks Family took a family photo..haha!

Just inside the arena was an equestrian shop of some kind, so Walker tested out the cowboy hats:

We sat in the stadium style seats in the front row so that we could keep an eye on our strollers. Kai turned into a monkey and was hanging on the railings:

Kai is such a little cutie!

As we were leaving the fair, we got some family pictures to remember the day.

The Brooks Family:

The Freitag Family:

What a fun and tiring day! It was so fun taking Karsen to the fair! It will be more fun when he actually knows what's going on, and when he's able to go on rides! At least I got cotton candy and an elephant ear! Yum!

Love, Michaela

Coming Soon...

2009-09-01T21:56:00.000-07:00

...Posts and pictures of this guy:

I was hoping to have the posts about the fair and sleeping in the crib done today, but the day flew by too quick! Maybe tomorrow - fingers crossed!

Love, Michaela

A Somber Thursday

2009-08-31T22:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-26T23:28:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-08-25T18:20:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

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

Anniversary Dinner

2009-08-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

Our 1 year anniversary was this past Sunday, August 9th, but we went to a baby shower in Tacoma so we didn't go to dinner to celebrate until Monday night.

We went to Maggiano's Little Italy in Bellevue which is one of our favorite places to go. And we went without baby! My mom came over to watch Karsen while we went to dinner just the two of us. It was Karsen's first time away from the both of us at the same time.

We were only gone for just over two hours but it was a little strange to not have him with us! But it was nice to get to spend time together alone.

I asked the server to take a picture of us to document the event:

I had a great time with Tim and dinner was really good! Thank you to my mom for watching Karsen for us!

Love, Michaela

Cell Phone Pictures

2009-08-12T23:52:00.000-07:00

Every day when Tim is at work, I take a picture of Karsen with my BlackBerry and send it to his phone. I do it so that he knows that we think about him during the day when he's not with us, but also to brighten up his day. He says receiving the daily pictures is the highlight of his day!

After Tim gets the pictures, he posts them on his Facebook page. People comment on them, usually saying how cute Karsen is or how much he looks like Tim (you should see my baby pictures and then tell me who he looks like! :-P). Well last Wednesday, our friend Walker took one of the pictures and had a little fun with it...

The original picture:

Walker's interpretation/edit:

And then my brother, Brandon texted me on Monday this week to ask me to send him the picture that my mom has as the wallpaper on her laptop.

Here's the before picture: And here's Brandon's interpretation/edit:

All I can say is...WOW! HAHA!

Love, Michaela

He Likes Balloons

2009-08-12T23:06:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day we ended up with 2 Mylar balloons that we tied to Karsen's bouncer that is on the kitchen counter. The balloons have lasted this long, they just are slowly get lower. Well, recently Karsen has discovered the balloons and seems to be enthralled with them and will just stare at them whenever he's in his bouncer. Last Wednesday, August 5th, I caught him talking to the balloons. It was so cute!

Here's the video of Karsen chatting with the balloons:

Later in the afternoon, I was folding laundry and looked up at the doorway to find the boys peeking around the wall at me. So cute!

Maybe I'm biased, but I think pretty much everything Karsen does is sooo cute! :-)

Love, Michaela

Videos of Karsen

2009-08-11T23:56:00.000-07:00

Yay I FINALLY figured out how to get the videos off of our video camera and on to the computer! About time, right?

Anyway, here are some videos from the past couple of months...

This one is from the day he was born (June 4th) and he's getting his first bath:

This video is from June 10th when Karsen was only 6 days old (I can't believe how different he looks now!) and he's a little grumpy:

This is of Karsen with the hiccups on June 29th:

This one is from July 22nd and he's making his grunting sounds that I like to refer to as his dinosaur sounds (and I'm wearing shorts):

I hope you enjoy watching these as much as I do!

Love, Michaela

Cheer Camp

2009-08-11T23:19:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday Karsen, Dani and I went down to The University of Puget Sound in Tacoma to watch Tori perform at cheer camp.

The team before they performed:

Here's the video of their performance (thanks Dani for filming it!):

Karsen was getting into the cheer spirit too!

It was nice to have Dani there to help me out with Karsen. (Sadly my mom wasn't able to come with us.) I love how Dani is always offering to change Karsen's diapers!

Aunt Dani feeding Karsen a bottle:

Dani held Karsen so much that I'm sure many people thought she was his mom! Tori and her roommate made this cute poster to hang on the outside of their dorm room door:

Eastlake (Tori's team) ended up winning 4 trophies during the awards ceremony after all the teams performed. They won Camp Champs for their performance that day, which is the award everyone wants to get! When I was on the cheer team (do I dare say how long ago?) we also won Camp Champs too! :-)

Here is Tori and all their trophies: The sisters and Karsen:
The cheer team and Karsen - he's already a ladies man!
All the excitement wore the little boy out!

After the awards ceremony, we waited for Tori to collect her stuff so that we could bring her home. We then met my parents for lunch at Red Robin in Redmond. It was a very full but fun day!

Congrats Tori! Can't wait to see how your team does at camp next year!

Love, Michaela

The Cabin

2009-08-10T22:38:00.000-07:00

I'm really REALLY behind in my blogging and to be honest I don't have a good excuse. I guess you could call it laziness, or tiredness, take your pick.

Anyway, 2 Sundays ago (August 2nd), we went up to my family's cabin at Alpental in Snoqualmie Pass. It was just me, Tim, Karsen and my parents. The main goal of the day was to get some projects done, or started, in preparation for the upcoming winter season when the cabin gets used the most. I wasn't much help, if at all, because I was on baby duty, but Tim was able to help my parents work on the front balcony that needed painting and pieces replaced. I actually don't really know exactly what they were doing, except my mom was painting pieces and at some point Tim's legs were dangling off the balcony, which is on the second story.

It was Karsen's first trip up to the cabin and I'm sure there will be plenty of more to come, especially around the holidays. While we were there my mom and I had a little fun taking pictures of Karsen with some of the decor.

Karsen by the ram head hanging above the fireplace on the main floor:

Riding one of the reindeer's by the fireplace: I think his facial expression is hilarious in this one:

I love going up to the cabin, it's just so peaceful and relaxing to be up there no matter what time of year it is. I can't to go up there with Karsen in the winter to play in the snow! :-)

Love, Michaela

One Year Ago Today...

2009-08-09T22:36:00.000-07:00

One year ago today, Tim and I made it official to spend the rest of our lives together! It was such a beautiful day that I will always remember and treasure.

Happy 1 Year Anniversary to my wonderful husband! I love you sooooo much! Here's to many more anniversaries to come!
(It's also our 4 year anniversary of being together too.)

Love, Michaela

Mommy's Work

2009-08-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I took Karsen to my office to meet my co-workers. They had all been dying to meet him, plus there is air conditioning there so it was a chance for us to get cool too! Hehe :-)

Karsen did really well while we were there for a couple hours. I did bring bottles and he ended up eating 2 of them, but he didn't seem to mind being paraded around the 3 floors of my office and meeting a whole bunch of people.

I took the camera but didn't really take any pictures except these 2 of us sitting at my desk:

It was kind of weird to be back at my office after not being there for 2 months! And everyone LOVED Karsen! It was also Karsen's 8 week birthday! :-D

Love, Michaela

Blueberries

2009-08-06T11:44:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind in blogging...ok I'm more than a week behind! But I do have lots to blog about, starting with last Tuesday (July 28th) during the week of the heat wave.

Last summer I planted a blueberry bush that only produced about 3 good berries, but this summer it produced a ton!!

Look at all those berries!

This was the biggest cluster of berries on the bush:

It was still really warm outside even though it was about 7PM, but the boys enjoyed hanging out in the yard: Karsen wanted to help pick the berries:
Karsen showing off all the berries we picked that day:

It was nice to be outside for a bit when it wasn't blazing hot, especially since we had been couped up in the house all day trying to keep cool. Plus Karsen really enjoys being outdoors...he's such a boy!

There are still more berries ripening on the bush that I will pick when they are ready. I'm hoping to get enough to make blueberry jam, but if not I will just make lots of blueberry muffins!

Love, Michaela

Seattle Heat Wave

2009-07-30T05:44:00.000-07:00

We can now say that we survived the hottest day ever recored in Seattle! The previous hottest record was 100 degrees on July 20th, 1994 and yesterday it got to 103 degrees! These are recorded at SeaTac International Airport as the "official" temperature, but it did get even hotter in other areas around Seattle. I heard on the news that there were only 2 major cities in the US that did not have a recorded temperature higher than 100 degrees; Miami and Seattle. Now it's only Miami. This week has just been blistering hot and of course most houses here don't have air conditioning because we would only need it for a few days during the summer.

Here is proof of the heat - Tim took these on his drive to and from work yesterday, hence the quality since they were taken with his BlackBerry.

Taken at 4:30 AM!

Taken around 2:00 PM!

This week has just been blistering hot and of course most houses here don't have air conditioning because we would only need it for a few days during the summer. I feel like I'm in Arizona!

Luckily my mom brought over their portable air conditioner so that Karsen and I can try to keep cool during the day. We've been holed up in our office/tv room all week with the a/c going non-stop! We've even been sleeping in the room on the pull out couch just to keep cool! At least today is supposed to be the last day in the 90's and tomorrow is supposed to be "cooler" in the 80's - haha!

Love, Michaela

Karsen is Cute as a Button

2009-07-27T13:26:00.000-07:00

I got the pictures from the photographer at the Cute as a Button consignment sale!! (Read about it here.)

She sent me the first 3 originally and then sent the last 4 the next day. Let me know what you think!

Picture 1 - I love his facial expression in this one! Picture 2 - Tim thinks Karsen looks proud that I'm holding him in this one:

Picture 3 - Look at those cute feet!

Picture 4 - Love this one in black and white:

Picture 5 - He's winking at the camera!

Picture 6 - I think this was when he was filling his pants during the shoot:

Picture 7 - I guess we can't both look at the camera at the same time, haha!

I think the pictures turned out great! And the photographer must have really liked them too because she even posted the first 3 on her blog!

I still haven't made and sent out birth announcements for Karsen yet (it's on the to-do list) but I guess it's acceptable to send them out up to a year after the birth, although I plan to send them out in the next week or two. Anyway, I was thinking about using some of these pictures for the announcements and I need everyone's help picking which ones so vote for your favorite(s) by leaving a comment!

Love, Michaela

Daddy's Smiley Boy

2009-07-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

On Friday when Tim got home from work, Karsen was in an exceptionally happy mood! It was so cute that I pulled out the camera and thought I would share.

Having a funny conversation with Daddy:

Nothing but smiles all around:

Daddy must have said something funny:

Such a happy boy!
So cute!

Can't wait until he starts giggling!

Love, Michaela

Trip to Ikea

2009-07-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

On Thursday Karsen turned 7 weeks old! He's getting so big! It's fun to see pictures of him when he was born and compare them to now because he looks so different! Well at least to me he does.

Also on Thursday we went to down to Tukwila (or is it Kent?) to Ikea with my mom and my sister Dani. It wasn't anything too exciting but I of course had to get pictures of Karsen visiting Ikea for the first time.

Luckily Karsen was a good boy for the trip since it's a bit of a drive to get there (not to mention we got caught in some traffic). He slept the whole way there and also almost the whole time we were inside Ikea. He then slept the whole way back to my parents' house too! It must have been all the movement from the car ride and stroller.

On the way back, Karsen fell asleep like this - love the hand under his chin!

At Ikea we bought Karsen a few things. We found these really cute finger puppets in ocean animal and jungle animal shapes. I also thought that this alligator was really cool too and decided that Karsen would enjoy it too...ok maybe he will eventually! For fun I took pictures of Karsen with his new stuffed animal that is bigger than him. The funny thing is he's sleeping, even after he had slept all day at Ikea!

Thanks to my mom and Dani for letting us tag along on their trip!

Love, Michaela

Crab and Bees

2009-07-24T00:50:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was my sister Dani's 23rd birthday and to celebrate we went to my parents' house for a crab and steak dinner. Karsen was even dressed for the occasion with a crab on his shirt, bib and socks...hehe.

What a crab!

My sisters having fun with Karsen and crab claws:

After dinner Dani opened her presents. The best part was when she opened the present from my brother Brandon, my cousin Blake and my aunt Deb because the boys spent quite a bit of time wrapping it.

The box underneath the Christmas wrapping paper:

Inside the big box....another box!

More to unwrap in the second box:

Still unwrapping:

Finally getting to the present - a giftcard to Target (and Tic Tacs):

I love how it was such a huge box at the beginning for a giftcard! Haha! Thank you to Auntie Em for getting the pictures for me!

Auntie Em caught me and Karsen watching Dani open her gifts:

Karsen wasn't such a happy boy for part of the night, even after feeding him. It may have been too warm for him or maybe he was just too overwhelmed with all the people and everything going on.

Karsen being fussy while Blake held him - but I love his face!

Being fussy for me and refusing his pacifier:

The highlight of the night was the fiasco with the bees. A bees hive was discovered right outside one of the kichen windows, under the eave. My dad sprayed the bees and they started coming into the house, which is when the entertainment began.

The bees started coming into the house thru the light closest to the window, so my mom and Auntie Em covered that light. The bees then just came thru other lights, haha:

My dad pulled out the vacuum to get rid of the bees that came into the house and Brandon and Blake tested their quick moves to catch the bees - which was very entertaining!

Brandon getting prepared for battle:

Brandon's face was very animated while he chased the bees. The bee is in the top left corner; and yes he got it!

Blake took his turn at capturing the bees and also succeeded:

Blake proud of his achievement:

They must have sucked up about 7 or so bees with the vacuum while we were there. After Tim, Karsen and I left to go home, my mom told me they caught 8 to 10 more!

What a memorable birthday celebration for my sister!

Happy Birthday Dani! I love you!

Love, Michaela

Dancing in the Grass

2009-07-24T00:36:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday Karsen and I were invited over to my best friend LeAnn's house for dinner so that her mom Connie could meet Karsen (and so LeAnn could see him again too). We decided to eat outside since it was so nice out and because Karsen calmed down when we were out there (he's such a boy). They have really nice grass in their backyard and I wanted to see how Karsen would react to being on the grass. We thought he wouldn't probably like it because it can be itchy, but after awhile he didn't seem to mind it at all.

Freaking out a little bit at first:

Still not quite sure about it:

Starting to calm down:
Not minding the grass at all:

Karsen was kicking his legs and punching his arms all over the place while he was laying on the grass (I like to say he's dancing when he does that). LeAnn decided that she was going to join in the fun! :-)

Monkey see, monkey do:

Thank you LeAnn and Connie for having us over! Can't wait to see you again!

Love, Michaela

Walker's Birthday

2009-07-23T20:02:00.001-07:00

Monday night we went out to dinner for our friend Walker's birthday. It was nice to go somewhere with air conditioning because it's been so warm out and our house feels like a sauna.

This was the first time Walker held Karsen:

Of course Kai was there too and his parents and all 4 of his grandparents each took turns chasing him around the place. At one point his Mamma B (Linda) was carrying him while I was rocking Karsen - it was the child carrying section haha!

Kai loves to give Karsen kisses and it looks like Karsen it trying to kiss back:

After dinner we went back to the Brooks' house for dessert. At one point during dinner we had put Karsen in his carseat without buckling him in and when he got to the Brooks' house we discovered that we had forgotten to actually buckle him in before putting him in the car! Eeeek! I swear we aren't bad parents! That's a mistake we will never make again....hopefully!

Happy Birthday Walker!

Love, Michaela

Faces

2009-07-23T18:50:00.001-07:00

When Karsen and I woke up on Monday morning I propped him up on my pillow to play with him and he was being a chatterbox and smiling at me. His smiles were so cute but unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, but at least I had my phone and was able to take some pictures. The quality isn't great (they're grainy) because they were taken with my BlackBerry.

Talking to me:

Such a happy boy:

The cutest toothless grin:

This one is the background on my phone - so cute:

Later that morning he started smiling and talking to me again and this time I had my camera - but of course by the time I got the camera out and ready to go, he wasn't smiling like he was before. I did take a bunch of pictures of all the different facial expressions that he was making though. Get ready for picture overload! (The pictures are smaller since there are so many but you can click on them to enlarge.)

Telling a story:

Trying to make a fishy face:

His silly face: Sticking out the tongue: Thinking about smiling: Distracted by something: His modeling shot:
Kinda winking:
Focusing on his hands:
Ok Mom, are you done yet?
I think I'm done now Mom:
I think he's trying to tell me to stop:
What's over there?
About to start another story:
Look of concern: A blank stare: Looking at his feet:
Playing with his hands:
Big yawn: Trying to avoid the camera:
Mom is it time to eat now?

Karsen has such an animated face - I love it! Too bad there isn't the sound of him chattering while I was taking these pictures. I do have video from another day this week of him talking but I still haven't figured out the camera to computer connection yet. One day I will, it's on the to-do list.

Love, Michaela

To Dani...

2009-07-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Aunt Dani!!!

Love, Karsen

Mill Creek Festival

2009-07-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we woke up feeling pretty rested because Karsen slept for 7 hours straight! Woo-hoo!! I got him to go down at around midnight and he didn't wake up until just after 7am. Is that considered sleeping thru the night? :-P

It was good that we were all rested because we had a full day planned. We were going to the Mill Creek Festival and Street Fair to walk around and enjoy the nice weather that we've been having.

Getting ready to leave:

Walking from the car to the fair:

Just like car rides, the stroller ride put him to sleep:

Every year they have a Corvette show and it's always kinda fun to see all the different ones that they have.

The boys and the cars:

We parked a couple of blocks away so on our way back to the car we decided to stop at Central Market to pick up some things for the carne asada dinner we were making at the Brooks' house that night. Since I still had the camera with me, I decided to take some pictures of Karsen in his stroller while we were in the store and since he was awake.

I love this picture!

Checking out the meat counter:

Strolling thru the fresh produce section:

While we were waiting in line to pay for our groceries Karsen was making some funny faces - it was cute!

Want a kiss?

Big eyes!

At the street fair we came across a booth that sold bubble wands for kids and I thought it would be fun to get some for Kai to play with that night at dinner - he loved them! He would dip the wand into the soap dish and then just start flinging the wand like crazy haha!

Karate chop!

He made a big bubble!

Everytime we see Kai, he's still just so interested in Karsen. This time he thought it would be fun to put his Crocs on Karsen's feet. Haha!

One day those shoes will fit:

Tim was holding Karsen and Kai decided that he wanted to sit in Tim's lap too:

After dinner we sat around the fire pit to make s'mores. This was Karsen's first camp fire.

I love how you can barely see Karsen's head peaking over the top of his blanket!

Toasting a marshmellow:

It was a full day but we had fun and Karsen was such a good boy! He seems to really enjoy being outside.

Love, Michaela

Consignment Sale

2009-07-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

On Friday Karsen and I were invited to go to a children's consignment sale called Cute as a Button with the Brooks family. I had never been to one before but thought it sounded like something fun to do.

It was at one of the local elementary schools and it was nothing but moms and young kids there, but I guess that figures for a children's sale and also because it was during the day on Friday when most people are at work.

We found a couple of fun things to buy like some sleepers (size 6mos) and a water repellent blanket for going to the beach (Hawaii for Thanksgiving!!). The highlight of the event was probably the vendor booths that they had setup along one of the walls. One lady makes dresses for little girls out of pillow cases that are super cute and another lady makes tutus but there was one lady who does photography and she had a mock studio setup and was taking pictures of the kids for free. Karsen was asleep in the stroller and I didn't want to wake him up so I didn't think he was going to get his picture taken, but our friend Kai did. After shopping around for awhile, Karsen woke up and wasn't fussy so I thought we would try to get some photos taken.

There were some other moms who were watching and everyone kept saying how cute Karsen is and someone said that I was really pretty and should have my picture taken too. Lately I haven't really enjoyed getting my picture taken, but at least I had makeup on that day, so I jumped in for a few photos with Karsen.

The photographer was really nice and made us feel comfortable. As soon as she sends me the pictures via email, I will be sure to post them - I can't wait to see them!

The photographer:Karsen's first professional photo shoot:

It was a really nice day out and really hot, so while we waited for Tiffany to pay for her things, we hung out in the covered play area right outside with Kai and his grandparents.

Kai was really interested in Karsen:

Afterwards we decided to go get some lunch at a deli in town and we ate outside to enjoy the nice weather. Kai was still really intrigued by Karsen and was even sweet enough to give him a kiss! It was so cute!

Karsen had been such a good boy all day and started to get a little fussy while we were eating, luckily I brought a bottle for him! I fed him while we watched Kai run around - I can hardly wait for those days! Ha!

Kai had a pickle that he ran around with and it probably touched everything!
And Kai's lunch meal came in a fireman's hat! How cool is that?!

It was a fun day! Thanks to the Brooks family (Tiffany, Kai, Linda & Bonny) for inviting us!

Love, Michaela

6 Weeks

2009-07-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Karsen's 6 week birthday! Time really is just flying by!

We kind of had a bit of a rough day though because he had a screaming fit in the afternoon. He was fed and had clean pants and we were having a hard time trying to figure out what he was so upset about. We ended up getting quite a few burps and toots out of him so we're concluding that he just had some bad gas because he seemed fine after that.

Later we went out to dinner to celebrate the milestone of 6 weeks, which also was Karsen's first time in a restaurant (he has been to drive-in places before). We went to one of my favorite places to eat, Bostons, in the Mill Creek Town Center.

Tim taking Karsen in:

We got to sit at a bigger booth so that there was room to put the carseat on the bench. We also got our favorite server there to help us, which made things a bit easier too. Is it bad that she already knew what we wanted to drink without us having to tell her? Haha!

Here's Karsen 'sitting' at the table:

Karsen slept most of the time, which was nice, and when he started to stir we were done eating so it was good timing.

Our server was kind enough to take a picture of the 3 of us at the table:

Luckily we made it out of there without Karsen crying at all - yay! But in our semi-hurry to leave because Karsen was starting to wake up, I accidentally left the cooler bag with his bottle in it! Doh! I didn't even notice until after we got home and had already unloaded Karsen from the car so Tim had to drive back down there while I fed Karsen. I guess you could say I had a blonde moment...

Hopefully our next restaurant adventure goes just as smoothly!

Happy 6 weeks Karsen!

Love, Michaela

To Renee...

2009-07-17T14:13:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTIE REN!!!

Love, Karsen

A Purple Gift

2009-07-16T22:13:00.000-07:00

I have the best husband ever! Look what he got me...

A new laptop! And it's purple!!! :-)

It was delivered yesterday and I'm loving it so far!! It's got a 15" widescreen and it's got a built in webcam.

Here's an inside look:

I'm so excited about...can you tell? Thank you Tim! You're the best!!! I love you!!

Love, Michaela

PS - Not every post can be about Karsen...hehe :-P

The Bumbo Seat

2009-07-15T18:47:00.000-07:00

You know your baby is growing up when he can sit in his Bumbo seat and hold his head up all by himself! He didn't seem to mind being in the chair but started to get a little fussy after a few minutes.

What a big boy he is now!

Love, Michaela

To Grandpa Herb...

2009-07-14T22:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Grandpa Herb!

Love, Karsen

Camping in Entiat

2009-07-13T18:08:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time camping this weekend! We went to Entiat, WA which is between Wenatchee and Chelan in central Washington. We camped on the property of my dad's friend, right on the water. The body of water is the Columbia River but they call it Lake Entiat because it's a reservoir of the Rocky Reach Dam.

My family was all there too and friends of my parents. We were all there because my dad's band was performing at a pre-harvest party that my dad's friend who owns the property was throwing on Saturday night.

Because Tim goes camping fairly often, we had pretty much everything we needed for the weekend, including a really cool tent setup. The tent attaches to the back of Tim's Jeep, which allows us to have lots of room for sleeping and storing things.

Here's our tent setup:

We borrowed an air mattress from my parents to put inside the Jeep for us to sleep on. We brought Karsen's playpen for him to sleep in and he slept there on Friday night but woke up at 3:30 in the morning with condensation all over his blanket and his hands absolutely freezing! So we brought him into bed with us and on Saturday night he slept with us the entire night.

Here we are inside the tent:

I guess there were a few people who were worried that Karsen would cry all night and keep everyone awake, but he was such a good boy! On Friday night he woke up at 3:30am only because he was cold, but I fed him anyway and then we all crawled back into bed together and didn't get up again until 8am when everyone else was getting up for breakfast. On Saturday night we went to bed fairly late because of the show, but Karsen didn't wake up until 5:30am to eat (he slept for 6 hours!) and then we didn't get up again until 8:30am or so. So overall I would say that he did really good! Plus he's not really a screamer at night, he just starts to talk and we know that he's up. Everyone said that they never heard him at all on either night. :-)

After breakfast on Saturday morning, Tim and Karsen decided that it was naptime. They're so cute when they sleep together!

It was sooo hot while we were there! It was around 100 degrees on Saturday, so Karsen spent most of the day in just his diaper to keep cool. He also spent a lot of the day underneath an umbrella to keep out of the sun since he's not old enough yet for sunscreen.

Karsen hung out with Grandma Dana underneath the umbrella while I was out on the jet skiis with my sisters.

Just chillin' on his own chair, enjoying the outdoors:

Luckily my sister, Dani, brought a small fan that we used to help keep Karsen cool since it was so hot!

After Tim and I got back from playing around on one of the jet skiis, my dad wanted to go take a tour of the Rocky Reach Dam just down the river. I thought it would be good to go and take Karsen, if only to get him out of the heat and get a ride in the air conditioned car.

We saw these mountain sheep on our way to the dam:

When we got to the dam it was about 10 minutes til 4pm, and apparently the tours close at 4pm but you have to go through security and what not, so we missed it! We decided to get ice cream in Wenatchee and of course Karsen had a meltdown in the car on the way so we ended up stopping at Wendy's for frostys since it was the first place we came across with ice cream. My dad and his bandmate, Arnie went inside to get the frostys while my mom stayed in the car with me while I fed Karsen (Tim didn't go with us).

Here is a shot of the dam that I took on our way back from Wenatchee:

After getting back from our little trip to Wentachee, we thought it would be fun to take Karsen down by the water. Of course he didn't go in the water (even though I did bring swim trunks for him hehe).

Here is Karsen down by the water, I think his hair looks very orange in this picture:

Here he is with his daddy in the water:
Here he is again with his mommy:
And of course he got fussy, probably because he was hungry:
Here is a shot of our campsite:

Before dinner, Karsen took a nap but it was so warm inside our tent because it was in the sun, I put him down in my parents' tent because it was in the shade. He actually really liked the feeling of their sleeping bag.

Since he was asleep, I took the opportunity to take some pictures and got this cute shot of his feet:

Dinner was setup just up the hill from where our campsite was, right next to the stage where the band was going to perform. We drove my mom's car up there while most everyone else walked so that we would have a place to feed and change Karsen during dinner and the show without having to walk all the way back to the tent.

On our way we saw a sight that you don't see everyday...

Who knew that roosters could climb trees?! Apparently they get up there to get away from racoons and stuff. HAHA!

On Thursday Karsen and I took a trip to the mall and I got him the cutest outfit to wear for the show! Grandpa Brad plays the drums so Karsen wore an outfit to support his grandpa!

In the picture it's kinda hard to tell but the shirt says "Make Some Noise" with a drumset on it. He also had a zip-up hoodie sweatshirt that said "Rockstar" on it, but he ended up not wearing it.

Before the show started, Karsen got to sit with Grandpa behind the drums. Maybe one day Grandpa will teach him how to play, except it will have to be at his house because I don't know if I can handle the sound of drums at my house! Haha!

I was holding Karsen near the stage when the band started to perform but quickly had to walk away because he didn't seem to like the sound of the cymbals. We ended up sitting at one of the tables in the far back and luckily Karsen had no problem falling asleep a little later.

Here is a picture of the band performing:

While the band was playing, there was a trailer that had karaoke setup and my siblings and their friends found great entertainment in it. I got video of everyone singing different songs and luckily for most of them, I still can't figure out how to get the videos off the camera and on to my computer.

Here is my sister Dani and my brother's friend Elliott singing a song:

The next day was spent packing up the campsite and getting ready to leave. The good thing was that it was fairly overcast and not as hot as the day before, which made things so much easier.

While Tim and I started packing up our stuff, Karsen hung out with Grandma and watched the duck that hung around the campsite all weekend. It was the weirdest thing to see this duck hanging around all weekend long by itself. He/she must have been lonely or lost or something.

Before really getting going on the road back home, we stopped in Wenatchee at the Sonic Drive-in. We had never been to one before but after seeing so many ads on TV for the place, I wanted to see what it was all about, especially since we don't have any near us.

After a 5 hour drive thanks to traffic (it should have only taken about 2.5 hours), we finally made it home around 7:30pm on Sunday night. Thankfully Karsen slept almost the entire 5 hours home and any time he woke up he would take a pacifier and go back to sleep, so we didn't have to stop. On our way to Entiat on Friday, we ended up having to stop in Leavenworth so that he could eat and that drive took us only about 3.5 hours (again thanks to traffic).

All in all it was a great trip and Karsen was such a trooper!

Love, Michaela

Gone for the weekend...

2009-07-10T15:02:00.001-07:00

We're off to Entiat, WA to camp for the weekend! We may be crazy to go camping with a 5 week old! Hopefully we all come back with our sanity still intact...

1 Month Checkup

2009-07-07T23:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Karsen had his 1 month check up at the pediatrician's office. I don't really look forward to these visits, mostly because Karsen always ends up screaming because he doesn't like being poked at - but really who does?

Because we have recently discovered the power of the pacifier, this visit didn't seem as bad as the last 2 times he's been to the doctor.

Here are his 1 month stats:
Weight: 9lbs, 1.5oz / Percentile: 25-50%
Length (Height): 21.25" / Percentile: 50%
Head Circumference: 38.3cm / Percentile: 50-75%

So basically he has a huge head! Haha!

I did manage to take a few pictures of the visit...

Here he is getting examined by Dr. Graham and apparently not enjoying it:

And unfortunately he had to get a shot, which is never fun either:

I'm glad that's over! Can hardly wait for our next visit next month when he has to get even more shots! :-\ Poor guy...

On another note - Today Karsen started wearing his 0-3 month sleepers! They're still a little big on him, but the newborn sized ones are just too small. I guess he'll grow into them.

Love, Michaela

Baby's First Independence Day

2009-07-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

This year the 4th of July marked 2 different special occasions for Karsen;
1. It was Karsen's first ever holiday and
2. It was also Karsen's 1 month birthday!

The day started out pretty uneventful, mostly because we hadn't made any plans and also it was about 90 degrees outside and our house was really warm.

Karsen spent most of the day in just his diaper to try to keep cool:

Finally around dinner time we headed to my parents' house for a steak and crab dinner. It was just the 5 of us for dinner (Tim, me, Karsen, and my mom & dad.) Later on my sister Tori, my brother Brandon and my cousin Blake (who's in town from New York) showed up.

Here is Blake meeting Karsen for the first time:

After watching some fireworks displays on TV, we decided to set off a few fireworks of our own in the street outside my parents' house. (Karsen stayed inside with my mom while the rest of us went outside.)

Yes I took these pictures!

Tori wanted a picture of her with the sparklers:

Of course Karsen was festively dressed for the occasion (once it got a bit cooler outside) and I of course had to get some pictures of him. Tim has a really cool American flag blanket that I draped over the couch to use as the background for the pictures. I think they turned out pretty good, considering I'm no professional.

I got 2 different outfits for Karsen to wear for the day, mostly because I couldn't decide between the 2 but also just in case he spit up on one, we had a backup.

Here is the other outfit that he ended up not even wearing because it was just too hot:

And we couldn't forget about our first babies...the dogs! Jameson and Turi each got a special treat from the cute little pet shop in Mill Creek, where we also get their dog food.

These treats are called 'dognuts' and are very patriotic!

Karsen also got to try out a new bouncy/rocking chair that we finally took out of the box and put together.

Ok so this is from the next day (Sunday) and he just happens to be wearing the same outfit because he slept in it:

Nothing too exciting, but I couldn't not blog about Karsen's first holiday!

Love, Michaela

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Love, The Freitags

Week Highlights

2009-07-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

What a week it's been for our now 4 week old!

Here are some of the highlights:

- On Tuesday he got to test out his Boppy playmat that even came with his own little Boppy...it's so cute! The big butterfly in the middle plays music and has lights in its wings, but it didn't hold Karsen's attention for too long.

- On Wednesday Tim got to feed Karsen his first bottle! At first I think Karsen was confused about what was going on and didn't take to it right away...

...but he finally got the hang of it and was able to drink some of the milk. He didn't drink the whole bottle though, but he did the next day!

- On Thursday he tried out his Rainforest swing. He has another little swing too but I'm coming to the conclusion that he's not really a fan of swings because he ends up crying everytime he's in one of them. He does love his bouncer seat though! During this swing testing, he was more enthralled with the TV than anything else, which is why he's looking to his right, haha!

- Also on Thursday, Karsen sucked on a pacifier for the first time! We've been trying for over a week now to get Karsen to try a pacifier and everytime he wouldn't even let us get the thing in his mouth. Maybe since he's had a few bottles now, he's more open to the idea of a pacifier.

Happy 4 weeks to my baby!

Love, Michaela

Caught

2009-06-29T17:40:00.000-07:00

Today I caught Karsen with the camera...

Yawning:

Sneezing:

Watching TV:

Posing for the camera:

Using his arm as a pillow:

Getting in touch with his inner cheerleader:

And my favorite....SMILING!:

I LOVE THIS BOY!

Love, Michaela

Thumb Fetish?

2009-06-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

So Karsen recently discovered his thumb...

And then he found Tim's...

Maybe he just likes thumbs? Haha!

Love, Michaela

Bath Time!

2009-06-23T18:49:00.000-07:00

Last night Karsen got his first tub bath at home! I know what you're thinking...the boy is almost 3 weeks old and he just now got a bath for the first time? Haha! No, we've just been pretty lazy and have been giving him wipe downs with a warm washcloth instead, so he hasn't been the smelly kid this whole time. :-P

I don't think he was really sure about it at first, but he seemed to calm down and enjoy, or tolerate it.

Here he is before the bath - he's only wearing a diaper and I have him wrapped in a blanket to keep him warm while Tim got the bath ready.

I got quite a few pictures of the event, but I don't want to get this page tagged for nudity (haha), so here are 2 pictures that don't show his private area:

And here he is all wrapped up in his towel after the bath:

I can't wait until he's a little older to take baths in the big tub with toys! :)

Love, Michaela

Father's Day 2009

2009-06-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

What a busy day we had! Karsen had us up fairly early and we were able to relax just the 3 of us. Karsen was able to give the card he got when we ventured out to Target the other day to Tim. :)

I tried to get a picture of Tim and Karsen together but Tim's eyes kept closing because of the flash, so I finally had to have him close his eyes and count to 3 and have him open his eyes right when I was taking the picture.

This is the resulting picture:

We then headed over to my parents' house to say happy father's day to my dad.

After leaving my parents' house, we then headed over to Tim's sister, Renee's house for dinner with Tim's family. Not only were we celebrating Father's Day, but we were also celebrating Renee's fiance, Bryan's 40th birthday. (His birthday was June 12th, but he and Renee were in Aruba and Miami for the last 2 weeks.)

The party decor:

Renee's dog Molly was very interested in Karsen, it was really cute! It really reminded me of when we got Turi and we took her over there and Molly thought it was her puppy. :)

We tried to get a picture of the 3 generations that were there, but Karsen was being a grumpasaurus.

We did manage to get this picture:

And then the dogs wanted to get in on the action. This picture pretty much sums up the night! Haha!

Happy Father's Day!

Love, Michaela

Saturday Night

2009-06-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went over to our friends', The Brooks' house for dinner. It was Karsen's first dinner party!

I didn't get very many pictures while we were there but it was really cute how Kai (see this previous post) was so interested in Karsen. He kept wanting to climb into my lap to get up on the table to see into Karsen's carseat.

Eventually, Kai decided that he wanted to get into the carseat too!

Luckily Karsen slept most of the time that we were there, which made things easier for me! Here's Tiffany holding Karsen:

I'm sure there will be many more dinner parties with the Brooks'. We love hanging out with them!

Love, Michaela

Bubble Machine

2009-06-20T12:45:00.000-07:00

Here's my little bubble machine! I love his facial expressions too!

Love, Michaela

Grandpa Herb

2009-06-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

Tim's parents have been here just over a week now and last night was the first night his dad held Karsen.

Here are a few of the pictures I took of the event:

Love, Michaela

Out and About at 2 weeks

2009-06-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Karsen turned 2 weeks old! Boy is time really flying!

Since Tim had to go back into his office instead of working from home, Karsen and I went on a day trip to Redmond to visit Grandma Dana and Grandpa Brad.

We had a bit of a late start on the day since someone wasn't too happy about getting into his carseat, but once he gets in the car and we start moving, he's out like a light.

We got to my parents' house and waited for my sister Tori to get home from school so that we could go pick up some lunch. She held him for a little while and of course he started to get a bit fussy. She always starts to freak out a bit when he passes some gas or starts to cry. The look on her face is always hilarious!

Tori is freaking out here because Karsen is crying:

We then ordered lunch from our one of our family's favorite places - Acapulco Fresh - and headed out to pick it up. We then took our lunch to my dad's shop to eat and also to see my dad.

Karsen's first chip? Haha!

We also had to get a picture of Karsen with Robert who works at the shop because they share the same birthday!

Wow I'm in a picture!

My dad was so funny taking Karsen around the shop! Maybe Karsen will one day like cars just as much as his grandpa!

Standing under a car:

Sitting on the hood of a Mercedes Benz:

Getting under the hood of a car:

Holding his first screwdriver:

After hanging out at the shop, my mom, Karsen and I headed to Target so that I could pick up a few things, since I hadn't been to a store since before Karsen was born. I was a bit scared about the adventure to Target because Karsen had been sleeping pretty much the entire time we were at the shop and I just knew that it was only a matter of time before he woke up and started crying.

Luckily our trip to Target was very peaceful! We just kept him in his carseat and put the carseat into the shopping cart and he just kept on sleeping. He probably thought he was still in the car haha! At one point I had to try some things on and my mom had to keep walking around with the cart and Karsen because when she would stop, he would start to stir. The only thing disappointing about the trip was that I didn't get any pictures of Karsen's first visit to a store. :(

On our way back to my parents' house, we had to stop at the shop again to drop something off that my mom had gotten at Target. It may have been the demise of our trip because Karsen started to wake up and just as I was about to pull out of the parking lot into traffic, he started screaming! My mom jumped out of the front seat real quick and into the back to hopefully help calm him down. Luckily it only took a few minutes for her to get him to quiet back down so that we didn't have to hear him screaming the entire 10 minutes to my parents' house - it breaks my heart to hear him crying like that, especially when I can't really do anything about it.

Overall we had a fun day out and about. A BIG thank you to my mom for going with us to Target (which is one of the main reasons I ventured out of the house), I wouldn't have been able to do it alone!

Love, Michaela

How do you know you're having a rough day?

2009-06-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

I thought Sunday would be a fairly good day, especially since Karsen slept for 5 hours the night before! But when he loses all the milk he had drank all over you, 3 times in 1 morning, it usually means it's going to be a rough day.

I guess Karsen really wanted me to wash the sheets on our bed because of course not only did his breakfast get all over me, but all over our bed as well. And this was not just a little bit of spit up each time, it was EVERYTHING he had just drank previously.

I of course freaked out a bit because I thought that A) what came up was too much to be defined as just spit up and B) 3 times in 1 morning? That seemed a bit much to me. I called my mom for advice - that's what they're for, right? Hehe ;-)

She said that he probably is getting too much air in his belly while he eats and the milk gets caught on top of the air bubble in his belly and when the air comes up, so does everything on top of it. Yay...

I did some research online to see what I can do to help prevent him from getting so much air in his belly each time he eats. So now feeding times take a bit longer, but so far it seems to be working (he's only lost everything once since then.)

Here's the new feeding ritual:
- While he eats, I rub his belly in slow circles to help everything settle in his stomach
- Also while he eats, I try to hold him in a more sitting upright position so that everything goes down better
- Every couple of minutes or so while he's eating, I will stop him and burp him to get any air bubbles out
- After he's done eating, I sit him upright for 10-15 minutes to make sure everything makes it down to his belly
- Sometimes if it seems like he's uncomfortable or got too much air, I will lay him on his back and move his legs in circle like he's riding a bicycle, which helps get air out and he also seems to like this too
- Oh and I now have towels laid out pretty much everywhere that I feed him, just in case

Anyone else experienced this or have any other tips on how to prevent so much air from getting into his little belly?

Luckily we had his first pediatrician appointment yesterday and I brought it up to her. She asked if it was just milk coming up each time or if there was more coming up with it. Since it is just milk each time, she said it is just the air bubbles he's getting and said everything I'm doing will help but otherwise she didn't seem concerned.

On a good note, Karsen weighed 7lbs 8oz at his appointment - which is 4oz more than his birth weight! The doctor was pleased with this and said he's doing really well.

I don't really have any pictures to go with this post (although I'm sure you're not too sad about not seeing pictures of Karsen losing his food...), not to mention the camera battery has been dead for a few days now.

But here's a picture from last week (Friday I think), just because:

I hope to have more pictures to post later this week.

Love, Michaela

Playing Peek-A-Boo?

2009-06-12T11:18:00.000-07:00

Nope. This is actually how he fell asleep yesterday. He's such a goofball!

Love, Michaela

1 Week Old

2009-06-11T18:26:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that my baby is now 1 week old! Time sure has gone by fast! Just a mere week and a day ago, I thought I was going to be pregnant forever!

I LOVE being a mom and I LOVE my little boy!

Here are 7 things I've learned about Karsen in 7 days:

1. He likes to sleep on his side and only his right side:

2. He likes to keep his hands up by his face:

3. He likes to just look around and examine his surroundings:

4. He has a very strong neck and can lift his head up on his own:

5. He is an escape artist and always manages to get himself out of his swaddle blanket:

6. He doesn't care much for being naked or getting his diaper changed:

7. He is a wiggle worm and doesn't stay still unless he's eating or sleeping:

Happy 1 week Karsen! I love you!

Love, Mommy

Meet the Grandparents

2009-06-11T18:17:00.000-07:00

Last night we made the long trek to the airport to pick up Grandma & Grandpa Freitag (They live in the San Diego area). It was Karsen's longest car ride so far and it went fairly well. He slept the entire way there, which made it easier for me since I sat up front with Tim so that he didn't feel like a chauffeur.

On the way back, I sat in the back along with Tim's mom, Kitti, just in case Karsen got fussy. And boy did he get fussy! Luckily we were only 5-10 minutes away from the house when he started his little fit.

I meant to take more pictures of Karsen meeting his grandparents, but it was late and I must confess I'm not the greatest at capturing the moment on film (or digital film.)

Here are the pictures I did get of the first meeting:

Grandma and Grandpa will be here for 2 weeks to take care of Aunt Renee (Tim's sister) & Uncle Bryan's house and dogs while they are in Aruba & Miami.

Hopefully I can get some more pictures while they are here.

Love, Michaela

New Best Friends

2009-06-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, our really good friends, Walker & Tiffany, brought their 14 month old son, Kai, over to meet Karsen. Tim and I attribute all of our baby managing skills to all the time we've spent with Kai over that last year. I guess you could say he kinda was our "practice" baby! We love their family and are really grateful to have them in our lives!

I just know that they are going to be the best of friends!

Love, Michaela