Back Again in Two Thousand Ten!

After the longest blog hiatus in this blogs history (although certainly not the last, we're sure!), the Carlson's are back in action. Admittedly, the updates continued to be postponed because it just seemed so daunting to try to play catch up; where would we possibly have started!??!?! So, since it's the time of new year resolutions (so much for exercising more, eating right, losing weight, etc, etc), we'll resolve to be better teamcarlson, after all, it's been a great way to document our lives and big events.

So, in a nutshell, both our little girls are thriving! Caroline recently turned 4 months old and is such an EASY baby! By 7 weeks, she was sleeping 7-8 weeks at night and by 8-10 weeks, was on a standard nap/feeding schedule which meant planning days and activities was a little easier for Erika. And she's so easy to put down! No crying, no fussing, nothing! It's made life much easier since there's two, instead of one! She's a quick eater and really just loves to "stand" up and observe the world around her. She's extremely alert and seems to have the sweetest little temperament. And as Caroline gets older, Ella is starting to recognize that being a big sister might have some benefits...as Caroline becomes more alert and engaging, Ella has learned that it's fun to read her sister books or make her laugh with funny faces (we are reminded how sweet a little baby laughs are!!!). Having a baby around allows Ella to mimic her mommy during her play, especially with her baby dolls. For example, she'll put "Baby" or "Kate" in time out for "pushing" or she'll hold up a play phone to her ear and walk around talking and "cleaning up" just like she sees mommy multi-task. As a mother of two little ones, Erika's learned to involve both girls together in as many things as possible; for instance Ella will help wipe and change Caroline's diaper and when Caroline is being nursed, Ella knows that it is story time. Just yesterday, Ella grabbed a book to read while Caroline began nursing and after getting comfortable on the couch, she pulled up her shirt and placed her baby doll's face against her chest! Ha! I'm sure that would have been a great picture to see a mother nursing her infant along with her toddler nursing her baby doll!

Brr! We've had some cold weather recently along with alot snow! Tim pulls Erika and Ella through the snow!

Little C-Line...a nickname which is starting to stick due to her sister's pronunciation of Caroline!

Ok, this had be documented. After Christmas shopping at J. Crew, Ella found all the J.Crew stickers in the bag and asked Erika if she could play with them. A few minutes later, Erika goes to check on her girls and Ella has placed the stickers not only on her cheeks, but on the cheeks of Caroline, Baby, and her other doll Kate. And boy, was she proud!

Christmas time with Daddy; she's too busy with her cracker to look up for a smile!

At McCormick & Schmidt's for our annual beer before Christmas mass.