What's New?
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| Our first family trip to the pumpkin patch |
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| I'll take that cute, little pumpkin in the middle! |
What else is new? I got a new job!! You guys have no idea how much I prayed about this, it's a long story and probably not something I should get into deeply, but this is a really great thing!! I still travel a bit, about 3-4 times a year, but the best part?!! Chris and Carter come with me everywhere I go!! Their travel expenses are completely covered, and we are always together! Seriously guys, who allows things like family traveling with employees to happen? My new job!! Our first trip is booked for March, a week before Carter's 1st birthday, to Seattle! I'm so excited! I work 3 days a week in the office, and on one evening a week. Carter comes in with me on the evening night so it doesn't truly feel like a work day for me. Everyone is so encouraging of me as a working new mom, I am truly so blessed!
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| Carter and Mommy at work! |
We already went on our first family vacation!! And it was flawless!!! Carter was a dream, and never fussed once during our 3 flights. And, in fact, slept from take off through the flight and landed before he woke up again. I'm going to write a blog about what I did to make traveling with a 5 1/2 month old so easy, but I credit nursing (still breastfeeding exclusively) the most to such an easy trip. Keeping the comfort and bonding consistent for Carter was key, in my opinion anyways. Here is a picture of me nursing Carter on a beach in Waimea, Hawaii.
The wind proved to be a little too strong for my nursing cover so a resort towel did the trick! Nursing in public can still be a very private moment. I bet most people on the beach never realized I was feeding my son underneath.
Chris was cliff diving with his brother, Cory. This time together, just Carter and me, nursing on the shore was perfect and moment I'll never forget. Just after I fed Carter, Chris and I walked him down to the shore and dipped his feet into the ocean for the first time. Another special element added to this day was it took place on mine and Chris's 4th wedding anniversary.
He loved the water and the sand! Thankfully, the water was warm in Hawaii so Carter never fussed when we dipped his feet in the water or ventured out for a little swim. So wonderful.
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| Getting ready to board at LAX |
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| What Carter's first flight looked like Zzz |
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| A gift from Carter's new friend :) |
Something really wonderful happened right before we boarded our first flight. A little boy, around 4 or 5 named Jackson, walked up to Chris, who was holding Carter, and handed him this Mickey Mouse doll. Chris said thank you, thinking the boy wanted to show it to Carter and tried to hand it back to him. The little boy shook his head "no" and walked away. Chris and I walked over to his dad to give the doll back when his dad told us, "oh no, that for you! We always buy Jackson a toy before we fly, so he has something to play with while we're in the air. But when he saw your son he asked if he could have two toys, one for himself and another to share with your son. He's never made such a request before and we thought it was a nice idea!" Jackson walked back over and said, "I wanted to share Mickey with the baby!" Of course I teared up, and bent down and gave Jackson a hug to thank him for having such a kind and generous heart. "thank you for sharing Mickey with Carter, you two will be friends forever."
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| At Pearl Harbor |
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| Cousin Carter and Clayton bonding (Clayton is exactly 9 months older than Carter) |
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| Enjoying the beautiful beach at our resort |
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| Mom and Dad at the luau |
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| Luau night |
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| Mommy and Carter at sunset |
Just a few iPhone photos to share. We took tons, but this is enough for now :)
It was such a wonderful trip, we already have our next family trip in the works for next summer. We haven't booked it yet, we just have to settle on the days and get the time off of work but it's exciting! Want a hint? Orlando :) I'll be in Nashville, TN in July for work so we decided since we'll be kinda near Florida, we thought, why not?! We haven't decided if we'll go before my work event or after, but either way "C3" will be hitting up Orlando for a few days!
What else is new? Well, something else big is coming VERY soon but it's still a little too early to talk about... Want another hint? The Tomlinson's will be expanding very soon :) That's all I'll say for right now! But be waiting for a big announcement in January!
