Happy Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving was extra special since we had baby Bryce here with us to celebrate. We enjoyed a quiet morning at home with just the four of us. I made one of Ryan's favorite dishes, egg, cheese and Portuguese sausage casserole, for breakfast that all of us enjoyed. After nap time we went over to mom and dad Hooper's house for a nice Thanksgiving meal. My mom outdid herself as usual and we had such a lovely meal and time of fellowship. My mom made a turkey and we all wrote what we were thankful for on the feathers and shared it with the family. Carter was thankful for his horsey who he sleeps with every night and his grandparents who spoil him on both sides of the family. After our turkey devotional we went downstairs and played some games with the kids. Carter loves playing "Ring Around the Rosie." Playing with the kids was a lot of fun. Carter and his cousin Cailyn are great buddies and they love playing together. Carter loves giving hugs to Cailyn and she is always a great sport about it even though half the time Carter knocks her over. I was so proud to get a family photo of us on Thanksgiving, even though Carter wouldn't necessarily cooperate. Bryce wore a special Thanksgiving outfit that said "Baby's 1st Thanksgiving" on his shirt and Carter dressed up in a handsome sport jacket that his Aunt Carolyn gave to him. What handsome Correia boys! We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Big Brother Carter

We are so proud of Carter's wonderful adjustment to being a big brother at only 19 months. Ever since Bryce came home from the hospital Carter has been such a gentle and loving big brother. He loves giving Bryce hugs and kisses even though often his kisses are open-mouthed. Carter holds out his hands to show us he wants to hold Bryce. He has tried picking him up, since he sees mommy and daddy carrying and holding him all the time, but has been instructed not to do this. He can only hold Bryce while he is sitting down and with mommy or daddy next to him. When Carter is playing and hears Bryce crying he stops what he is doing and goes to check Bryce out. Today I was in the kitchen getting lunch ready and Bryce started crying. I peeked in because he stopped crying and I saw the cutest thing...Carter found Bryce's binky and put it in his mouth. My heart melted at Carter's kindness. First of all, it's amazing Carter didn't suck on Bryce's binky to begin with and second of all Bryce doesn't usually like binkies. I think he just took it because Carter gave it to him and he already admires his big brother. Ryan and I love our little guys and cannot thank God enough for our family of four!

Megan's Speedy Labor

I was quite anxious to deliver Bryce especially since he decided to not come on his due date, which was November 1st. The next day, Sunday, November 2nd we went to church as a family and enjoyed a nice lunch together before nap time. Carter went down for his nap and so did I. Right before nap time I began to notice some leakage. I humbly mentioned to Ryan that I couldn't control my bladder and was leaking a little bit. We just laughed about it and then I went down for a nice long Sunday nap. After my nap I continued to leak and began to think that this just might be something more then me not being able to control myself...at least I hoped! After I read a little about the infamous water breaking, I realized that mine might have broke even though I never experienced a gush which is what you see in the movies. I didn't want any infection to occur in our baby, so I decided to call the doctor and tell him what was going on. He told me to go to the hospital and they would check me out right away. We packed the car and took Carter with us to the Labor & Delivery Floor. We checked in around 4:45 pm. I changed into my gown and the nurse told me my water did break and that I was already 5 cm dilated! I couldn't believe it...Bryce was on his way! My parents came and picked Carter up around 5:30 pm. While Ryan was attending to Carter and ordering some dinner, my contractions came on pretty strong. I got an epidural which relieved a little pain, however, Bryce's heart rate dropped drastically for about 15 minutes and the doctor was about to use the vacuum. Thankfully, it went back to normal and he was able to come in his own fashion. Ryan's dinner arrived and about half way through I complained to my nurse, Princess, that my epidural was not working. She checked me and said the pain was due to me being 10 cm dilated and time for me to push this baby out. Unfortunately, Ryan couldn't finish his dinner and he helped me deliver a healthy baby boy, Bryce Keith Xavier. He was born at 7:01 pm which was only a couple hours after we checked into the hospital. He was 7 lbs 2 oz and 20 3/4 in long. It was a wonderful delivery experience, especially compared to our first. Bryce was able to breath on his own and he was placed right on top of me at birth instead of having to be rushed into the NICU. We cannot thank God enough for answering all our prayers...He is just too good to us!

Carter is 18 Months!

We cannot believe our "baby" is 18 months old!!! He had a great check-up yesterday with the doctor. He is 28 lbs. (75th percentile) and 33 1/2" tall (80th percentile). We are so proud of our Carter! His favorite thing to do is be outside. He loves playing outside with his sidewalk chalk, riding in his red buggy car, going for walks, helping mommy and daddy with yard work, playing on our neighbor's swing set and going to playgrounds. Carter babbles nonstop and points to everything he recognizes/wants. He is also able to say a few words including "boo, uh-oh, eese, mama, dada, up." He is great about listening and following directions when he wants to. He knows to sit on the step so I can put his socks and shoes on. He also knows that time-out is sitting on the step and calming himself down when he is being disobedient, which doesn't happen too much. Carter loves reading books, throwing balls, hitting the baseball with his bat, pushing his lawn mower around the house, watching Barney and his favorite DVD which still is Praise Baby. We love that Carter is a snuggler. He loves giving hugs and kisses. Some of our favorite moments is in the morning after he wakes up to put him in our bed to have some cuddle time. He loves laying on mommy and daddy and we love tickling him and just waking up together, even though it is often 8:30am. We cannot thank God enough for creating Carter. He is such a wonderful gift and blessing. We know he is going to be a wonderful big brother in about 10 days. Carter, mommy and daddy love you more then you will ever know and we know God has special plans for your life.

Down the Shore with Best Friends!

On October 11th and 12th we had the fun privilage of going down the Jersey Shore with some of our best friends, the Coucharas (Joe, Laura and Joey) and Reigners (Eric and Carol). Laura and Carol are my two best friends from high school and it is rare to be able to get away with them and their families. We all got down there on Saturday and after lunch we got the two little guys, Joey and Carter, to the beach. Since it was pretty breezy outside we bundled them up and didn't expect them to enjoy the ocean water as much as they did. To our surprise Joey was the first one to fall into the water, which he actually loved! Carter was also eager to jump the waves with his daddy and eventually fell into the water as well. The boys loved just sitting on the wet sand playing with some beach toys. Soon it was back to the house for naptime. After the naps, we all got ready to go to the boardwalk. We had a nice dinner at Mac n Manco's Pizza and enjoyed taking the boys on a few rides. After a nice walk on the boardwalk we enjoyed some ice cream from Kohr Brother's. After putting the boys to bed, we adults enjoyed watching the Office all night long thanks to Carol! We had many good laughs and good talks. Sunday was spent eating some great meals and just enjoying being able to relax at the beach house. It was the last big getaway for our family since baby boy #2 is suppose to enter the world in about 2 weeks. I think the reality of it hit me when Carol said to me as we were saying our goodbyes, "Well, I guess the next time I will see you is at the hospital with your newest addition!" Thank you best friends for a great weekend getaway!

Happy Fall!

Carter and I went to Willow Creek Orchards with our MOPS group on October 9th. It was a beautiful day and actually felt more like summer then fall weather, but it was still a lot of fun doing something in honor of the fall season. Carter's favorite part was picking berries and eating them...or should I say having his mama pick them and give them to him to eat while he sat in the lovely grass. Carter also got to go to their pumpkin patch and pick out his first pumpkin. He picked a great one which now sits right outside our front door for decoration. I am blessed to be able to stay at home with Carter and do these fun events...thank you Ryan for working so hard for us...we love you lots!!!

Sesame Place

Our wonderful friends, Albie, Katie and Landon Guerra, invited us to spend a fun-filled day with them at Sesame Place on September 27th. Landon is about 4 months younger then Carter and they are quickly becoming good buddies. They enjoyed playing together and going on some rides together. Sesame Place was decorated for the fall season, which was beautiful. The boys walked through their first cornstalk maze with their mamas who couldn't seem to find their way out without the help of the daddies. It was a fun day with great friends...what else could we have asked for? Thank you Albie, Katie and Landon!!!