Summer Break is Near!!

I can not believe I will begin my summer break this FRIDAY! I am so excited to begin my summer stay at home mom routines and spend sometime with my little man! I have so many plans for us, hopefully he is willing to indulge his mama, especially since this is the last summer without a sibling!!

This past month has been crazy for us and as all of you know the entire state of Oklahoma. For our little family we have been busy with household jobs, friends and family events.

 Towards the end of April we had a little garage sale in our neighborhood garage sale event to help clear out the guest bedroom for our newest little man. We did pretty good and were able to get rid of somethings we just didn't have space for. Also at the end of April I ran in the Oklahoma Memorial Marathon Kids Run with my school. Please don't be fooled, I am not a runner and its only a little over a mile. However, I find so much joy being involved in the Memorial and doing community activities with my sweet students and co workers. The past two years I have helped the PE teacher once a week the last semester of school with her running club project. The kids run a few times a week after school to complete the miles they need to finish the Marathon the day of the race. The day of the race they run the last mile and receive their medal. It is great to see them run and receive their medals with so much pride!

The very last week Kyle went on a work trip to San Antonio and I was left to run the show without him. That was my first time since Carson was two months old to work and take care of Carson from sun up to sun down without Kyle. And Carson was a complete angel! I was shocked. I really thought being off his morning routine would make him cranky but he didn't skip a beat.

May did not slow anything down for this family. We continued to have birthday dinners, play dates, Mother's Day, and getting my classroom ready for summer. It was a great second Mother's Day. The boys got me my favorite breakfast and flowers, we went to the park, and enjoyed a nice dinner out on the patio. It was such a relaxing and sweet day.

 

Through April's crazy rain showers and random freezes we were able to go on a few walks around our ever growing neighborhood and enjoy the new pond they've made. Carson loves going to see if the ducks are there. Unfortunately they usually aren't but that's given Kyle more chances to teach him to skip rocks, or as Carson calls them "rockos."

 Carson loves walking his Jake. Carson has started wanting to do anything Kyle does. Usually Kyle walks the dogs and I push the stroller. However, now Carson also needs to walk a dog and I'm left pushing an empty stroller. It continues to make me so thankful that God gave me my husband. It couldn't make me happier that my little boy would want to be like such a wonderful man.

 

Our little baby has really begun blossoming into a toddler. This past month he has transitioned to a toddler bed, and for the most part is doing well with it, and is becoming more comfortable with the potty. I hope to have him potty trained by the end of summer (wish me luck)!

His 2nd birthday is June 1st and we are looking forward to having a fun little get together to celebrate our big little man. If asked what he wants for his birthday we will tell you a birthday cake and ice cream, easy to please I guess!

He still enjoys books, music, playing outside, and Sesame Street. And has formed a new love for cars/trucks/tractors/trains/airplanes, the zoo, and anything dad does. He talks, giggles, and sings all the time! He currently likes singing Rock a bye Baby, Twinkle Twinkle, and the ABCs. He has a very sweet and sometimes sassy personality, but I just love how big of a personality he has!

 

Baby Bradley Update



Today we went to the doctor for our follow up ultrasound on the measurement of Baby's tummy and our monthly doctor's visit. Thank the Lord, his tummy is now measuring the correct amount of weeks!! They did a full panel of measurements again and everything measured correctly and went great. His heart rate was in the 160s and we was very active. I am a little over 23 weeks today and have gained 5lbs since my first doctors visit in January. I will need to get some baby bump pictures up because I swear it looks a lot bigger than 5lbs to me! I take the glucose test next visit and I'm praying they don't limit my sugar intake!!

I believe we have decided on a name, Bradley. We aren't completely set on a middle name but I'll share when we do. We've picked out his bedding and have a dinosaur theme in mind. I am excited to be out for summer and give this little guy's room more attention!

 

Please continue to keep my hometown of Moore and the other cities hit in the recent May tornadoes in your prayers. Thankfully, my mom and other close friends and their families are all ok. But many of my college and childhood friends have lost someone or their homes. But just like the city has done in the past they'll recover again!

Baby Update

 

Today was our 18 week check-up and the official gender confirmation ultrasound. Baby B is still a Boy! And we are still undecided on a name. On my end everything looked great. I have gained two pounds since the last visit, blood pressure, and measurements were all on track and looked good.

Baby's heart rate during the ultrasound was in the 150s and when we were listening to it with the Doppler it was in the high 140s. His ultrasound measurements looked normal. He wiggled around the whole time and kept is little toes all clinched up. I don't think he liked all the pushing from the ultrasound. He actually measured a day or two larger in some areas so that would make the due date between 15th-17th of September.

His tummy was the only area that did not match the 18 week measurement. On the ultrasound his little stomach looks like a little bubble and it measured smaller than it should. My doctor does not feel concerned and believes that he may have passed all the fluid before the ultrasound and that's the reason for the smaller measurement. However, we still will have to redo the ultrasound on the next visit to confirm this. I of course Googled it on the Internet and have now made myself a little nervous, but I do trust our Dr. and believe if it was of greater concern she would say so. We will still be keeping the situation in our prayers and always appreciate your prayers too!

 

My regular clothes officially don't fit around my belly without assistance, by assistance I mean belly band or rubber band, so I have moved on to dresses and maternity pants. Which are so much more comfortable anyways! I feel like my energy has returned along with my old friend heartburn

 :( Starting around week 17 I was able to feel the little flutters of movement, which makes the whole thing so much more real and exciting!

 

A little family update: Carson seemed to really enjoy the Red & White Scrimmage at OU. He loved the Ruff neck guns, the music, band, and crowd! He was a real trooper and stuck it out the whole game! It sure made Kyle and I happy to get to share a little of our old college days with our little man.

 

Till next time!

Happy April

The end of March we had our monthly check-up for Baby B. At that point I was 15 1/2 weeks. I hadn't gained any weight, which is shocking since I already have a kangaroo pouch, but was still excited about the number. We thought we were just going to hear the heartbeat and be on our way but we were surprised by getting the chance to see our little bundle again on an ultrasound. We did hear the heartbeat and it was in the high 160s and sounded wonderful. We were discussing with our doctor the next visit and getting to find out the gender when she said we could go look right now since we were far enough along and she had time! We were completely shocked but soo excited, so we jumped at the offer.

Drum roll please......

 



(not sure why but it keeps flipping the pic when i down load it, so I apologize for the sideways view)

 

Another BOY!! We have our official 18 week ultrasound next Tuesday to determine the gender but our doctor as well as us from the picture we have feel confident the next ultrasound will still prove Baby is a boy. Since we found out right before Easter we decided it'd be fun to send some of our loved ones an Easter egg with the surprise in it. Above is a snap shot of one of the special deliveries. We have yet to decide on a name but hopefully we will come to an agreement before the birth ;)

 

  The weekend of Easter we enjoyed some time with our sweet friends, the Kochenowers, who passed down a big brother book to Carson. It has become one of his favorites and he now talks about big brothers so I think we are slowly making a little big bro progress. When asked if he wants a baby in the house or a brother he still however quickly responds with a,  NO ;)

 

We have been and continue to be booked every weekend in April with some sort of activity, but we are all excited and eager for the nice weather and outside time we'll get to enjoy. Last weekend we spent some time at the OKC zoo. Which Carson has become very fond of. He really loves looking at the animals and playing in all the play areas. It was his first time to wear shorts for the season so we left with skinned knees and lots of dirt, so for a little boy I'd say that spells success! We decided to get a zoo pass this year, so I am looking forward to spending some of my summer time there too.  This coming weekend we are taking Carson to his first OU game. It's the red and white scrimmage for the football team. My sister, brother in law, and mom will also be joining us on this big occasion. Hopefully he enjoys it as much  as we do!

 

Till next time!

Easter 2012 

Easter 2013 (What a change!! It went too fast)

Yelling at the bears to "come down now!" they were up near the top of the hill and too far away for him I guess.

OKC zoo playground and my 16 week baby bump. 2nd time really does bring the bump a little faster :/

2nd Annual Neighborhood Hunt

Our neighborhood held its annual Easter egg hunt today and this year I think Carson was much more successful than last year. It took him a few minutes to pick up on what he was suppose to do but once he did, watch out eggs! Then when he discovered candy was inside, the hunt was done and he was ready to eat his loot. I can't wait to see him show his little bro or sis the ropes next year!
 

(Last years hunt)

 

Happy Easter!

A long overdue update!

Well as many of you may already know our biggest family news is Baby Bertholf #2 is on his/her way! We found out we were expecting around the middle of January and it has been a very hard secret to keep! Our first doctors appointment was January 29th, and at that point I was 7 weeks along which makes our due September 17th. The doctor said everything on the ultrasound looked great and it was wonderful to see the little tiny heartbeat.

So far everything seems to be following the same path as Carson's pregnancy. I felt nausea from weeks 7 to 11 and extremely sleepy the first trimester. I think working with 21 7 & 8 year olds and keeping up with a 21 month old added to the tired feeling! I don't have any certain cravings but I can't recall having any certain ones with Carson either. But when I am hungry, look out because I am one cranky hungry preggo gal!

 

We went back to the doctor for our second check-up on February 28th and the second ultrasound showed a very active little baby! Even the doctor seemed surprised at how much our little bundle was hopping around. At that check-up we were 11 weeks. I hadn't gained any weight, which shocked me because I already felt I looked rounder!

As of today I am 14 1/2 weeks and feeling much better. We go back for our next visit Thursday. At that appointment we will also schedule the ultrasound to see what gender our beautiful number 2 will be!

 

There wasn't really too much to report about in the month of January. We all just worked on getting back into the swing of things after the holidays and winter break. However, one of Kyle's sisters welcomed their little baby girl into the world, and we are thrilled to have a new niece and cousin for Carson!

February was an exciting month full of interesting Oklahoma weather. One minute we'd be snowed in and the next we were taking walks and visiting the OKC zoo. I also had a few school holidays and breaks so it made the month seem even shorter than it already was.

 

 

March has been an exciting month for our little family as we took a trip to see Kyle's parents in Washington over Spring Break. I was a nervous wreck leading up to the big trip. Traveling with a 21 month old seemed like a really scary task! But Carson proved me wrong. He did great! Everything about the airport and airplane was soo exciting to him! He acted like the whole thing was a big ride. Of course with any toddler we had our moments but there was only a few! That being said it was still a lot work traveling with a young child and I may need a vacation to recover from the time changes and extra work I had to put in! Carson enjoyed getting to see his grandparents and show off his big personality as well!

My brother and sister in law welcomed their little boy in March as well. So now Carson has a cousin on both sides closer in age!

 

Carson is of course still growing by leaps and bounds. We haven't had an ear infection in months, thank you Lord, though the doctor felt for sure he'd see us again before the winter season was over. So if we continue at this rate we may not see the doctor till June for his 2 year wellness visit! Currently he loves music (especially playing guitar and drums and hearing daddy play guitar), animals (elephant seems to be his favorite), doing anything and everything by himself, fruit, books, cars, and of course still Sesame Street. He talks all the time and is starting to say more phrases and some sentences. Kyle and I love to hear him say his name, Thank you, o my goodness, excuse me, and sing. He has currently started counting to 11 all by himself. I'm not sure he knows what any of the numbers mean but its super cute to hear him count! He can also sing along to the ABCs but some of his letters sound made up and we've begun sitting on the potty (as long as there is candy involved) but nothing is happening just yet.

I would love to add more pics but at the moment its not letting me upload, so until next week take care!

 

 

 



 



18 Month Check-up

Thursday was Carson's 18 month check up and of course he has grown! He had a much bigger growth spurt than he did between the 12th and 15th month visits. Since his 15 month visit, his head has gone from 47" to 48" around, he has grown from 31" long to 33 1/2", and gained four pounds from  24lbs at 15 months to 28lbs 2 oz. He is in the 79th percentile for weight and the 76th percentile for height, so he is tall for his age and his weight matches his height. The doc says he looks great! But Kyle and I already knew that ;)

 

It's the Holiday Season!

The last of October got past me and so did the whole month of November without me being able to update the blog!! This is just one of the many signs that the holiday season is in full swing! So I will start with the end of October and hopefully can remember enough to update our friends and family!

 

 

This Halloween was so much fun with our little man! Last year, he hated being in his costume, couldn't sit up and his favorite treat was baby oatmeal! This year on the other hand, he enjoyed wobbling around in his dragon outfit, carrying his bucket full of suckers, trick or treating, and play games. We went trick or treating about a week before the actual day at my sorority house in Norman. We wondered how he would do walking up to strangers, but once he saw he could put stuff in his bucket he was in love! Then on actual Halloween we went to our church, Crossings Community, and did their trunk or treat activities. He really enjoyed the little games and the live band.

 

 

From the picture it may be hard to imagine but he is a very lively dancer. You can tell that the music takes over his entire little body!

Also, in October we visited Downtown OKC's Pumpkinville. They decorated the children's park at the Botanical Gardens with hundreds of pumpkins and all sorts of fun activities for the kids to do. While we were there we got to try fresh pressed apple cider and listen to a story in a gigantic candy corn tepee. Carson seemed to really enjoy all the climbing around on the pumpkins. That was one of my favorite October memories so I hope it is something our city will continue to do for many years!

 

 

November was extremely busy at the Bertholf house. We had OU games or other activities every weekend and during the week either I had school activities in the evenings or Kyle had to work a few extra hours. It felt like we were always on the go! Between all the busy we did get to enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving. We stayed here and went to my mother's and grandparents house for dinner. My brother and sister-in law and sister and brother- in law also got to join us for the holiday and holiday weekend. It was so much fun to have them in town and to spend so much time with them. Adam and Devan are expecting a baby boy in March and we were thrilled to get to see her little baby bump! It'll be so fun for Carson to have a boy cousin close in age.

Right before Thanksgiving we also had some family pictures taken. A sweet first grade teacher at my school has started doing photography on the side and had a little photo shoot near Lake Arcadia. The entire time Kyle and I thought we'll be lucky to get one good shoot because busy one year old was being a ONE year old!! He either wouldn't smile, wouldn't look at the camera, or wanted to be left alone, but she managed to do it!

 

 

Carson turned the big 1-8 (months)  Dec. 1st! We have his 18 month wellness visit next week so I will definitely update you on his growth next week. He is very much a boy and loves doing all things boy, playing in the dirt, wrestling daddy and doggies, and playing outside. He has started repeating everything he hears and holds little conversations with himself or whomever will listen. He loves books, music, Jake (our dog), Elmo and most the gang, any ball he can throw, playing in the backyard with his fake mower, and helping around the house (pretend sweeping, dusting, feeding the dogs, and throwing trash away). He doesn't like to stop, so any activity where he may need to stop you'll hear a little bit about it from him :) It is really fun to see his toddler personality come out the older he gets.

 

Until next week take care!