Walking through life with the Walkers: To blog or not to blog...that is the question

It has been over a year since my last blog post...I honestly never intended on it being my last post. I've thought and thought about whether or not to return to the blogging world. At this point, I am up for a trial. With a few ground rules I have laid for myself. First, no pressure. If I post, I post...if I don't, I don't. Second, no comparison games! This fall at a women's event at our church, the speaker said, "Comparison is the thief of joy." That has stuck with me! It is so easy to do! No offense to anyone who happens to read this, but I've decided to try at it again more for my own journaling of life's big events (or small ones) than anything else. For Carson's 2nd bday, I completed his "baby book." It basically was a compilation of all the wonderful milestones of his first year of life. All that to say, I was able to put that together largely due to the many posts I made during that time. And I cherish that fact that I have those memories in writing and in pictures. Another reason for my return is that my sweet husband surprised me with a MacBook Pro which means I don't have to sit in our study using our ancient (lol-2004) Dell!!! If I start getting frustrated with it all- you will know cause the post will stop- haha.

Not really sure where to begin since December 5, 2010 was my last post! A lot has happened since then...rather than playing catch up I think I will just start with what all Carson is doing right now. And since I just got this computer, I don't have a ton of recent pics but I will see what few I can add since that is the best part in my opinion :)

Carson is 2 years and 5 months old! Today is day #2 of the 3-day potty training method. So far I am pleasantly surprised at how well it is going. I have said to many that potty training has been the most intimidating thing of parenting for me to date. This may sound crazy but it is exactly how I have felt. He was probably ready around November but I knew I couldn't keep up with him after having knee surgery. Then December was the holidays. So I basically searched our calendar and found 3 days that I could keep completely (minus PT this morning) clear and focus on this huge developmental milestone. Yesterday he started out basically in denial. Every time we got near the potty he would say "no,no" but today he was delaying his nap by saying "carson go poop in potty"- lol! I will figure out how to share the link the the method I am using but suffice it to say the focus is on complete positive reinforcement, commitment, and focus for these three days. Not sure what to expect after that point but we will cross that bridge when we get there. Today he has only had one "accident" so far! AND he is currently napping for the third day in a row! Not sure if he is about to hit a growth spurt or what...

He is also a talking machine! I am just amazed at the things he can say and the thought processes he can follow now. As I hear is common at this age, he also gets stuck on repeat often. Basically he will say one word, phrase or request over and over and over and over (x100) just because....usually until you repeat it back to him a few times. I guess he just wants to make sure he is understood. He is still completely obsessed with Cars! Mainly the true pixar Cars characters but any mode of transportation captivates his attention more than balls. He has the whole set of the race cars from Cars 2 and knows them by name and I think may even talk to them on a regular basis! He is also very interested in puzzles...this is a newer thing but I am really impressed with how quickly he can figure it out and how much he can work on his own. I am realizing that unfortunately a lot of times I limit what he can do based on my assumptions of what he can't do...make sense? Basically, he can do, say and think more than I realize! Which is a good thing when I don't limit him!

Cautious Carson is still my common description of him...he is not much of a risk taker and hates loud noises. He is still; however, very social and loves playing with his friends and family! He is especially fond of sweet Elsy Kate, his precious 10-month old first cousin (and my DARLING niece!!) whom he lovingly refers to as "E." (Because he likes to...in fact he can say "Elsy Futterer" but that is just not as fun :) He also still really likes TV...which has raised concerns for me so January we have collectively decided as a family to partake in an odd type of fast...no tv! Yes, we did make two exceptions at the onset- we would watch a few important bowl games (namely national championship) and the marathon olympic trials. Otherwise, in Carson's mind it is "broke." Admittedly it has been harder for me than I thought it would be...but I am thankful that we have been able to see what can happen when we don't spend so much time in front of the tube- talk more, read more, go to bed on time, etc. I just have to be careful now that this awesome new computer doesn't replace the TV in my time sucker category!!

Okay...maybe this post has been more than long enough to get started again...let me see if I can figure out how to post a few pictures before I close.