charles carroll

i found this pic on my cousin's facebook today. i have never seen it. then i realized that i have only seen 1 or 2 pics of my dad's dad.  this made me sad.  i am a total picture girl, pictures mean a lot to me. so i am doing a shout out to all the carroll's out there who read...if you have anymore or any at all please in box me!!! i would love to scan, copy, keep, what ever all the old pics that are still around!!!

after i saw the pic, i wondered who the guys were esp bec my cousin posted it, then i realised that it's my GRANDFATHER (i never met him) i can see a lot of my own dad in him and it made me wonder about it, what was he like? what did he like to do for fun? was he funny? did he have long toes ( still trying to find out where ellie got her's from!) who was this man who created my dad? 

deep thoughts for another busy day!

ellie dr's update! it went smashing!  she is up a POUND in 10 days and grew an inch!  the dr was very happy!  we go back next month for her big appointment.  we are going to keep doing what i'm doing, nurse and top her up when she needs it.  i have been able to pump extra most days, sure not a whole lot an ounce or two but what ever.  i take each day 1 by 1! 0 comments

Posted by mel at 4:53 PM

ellie update

this morning, in her church attire.  looking at her brother. sigh. she is such a GREAT baby, c and i still pinch our selves to make sure this is real. she is here and she's such an easy going baby. nothing like her brother. ha

what a blessing!

we go tomorrow for her official weigh in at the dr's. i am not concerned.  we weighted her the other day and she was 1 ounce over her birth weight! yeah!

she has put herself on a routine.  eats ever 3-4 hrs during the day, i top her up at night around 10 and she sleeps till 2-3ish then again around 6-7ish.  this morning i had to wake her p at 7:30. not so bad for just shy of 4 wks!

can you believe that???? almost a MONTH. crazy!

i am still nursing. ha. i top her up when she needs it but some how my milk is still there. i can tell by her poops how much formula/milk she is getting and from the last few days it's breast milk poop. i am taking it day by day and feel total peace to do what i want, when i want and how i want with no guilt or fears of judgement. yeah for growth in this area! ha

nate the pirate

nate telling his sister all about spiderman

this am. my girl and i.  i am wearing mat clothes. nothing fits. ha and i am ok with it!

ignore me. ha. but isn't she a doll? 4 comments

Posted by mel at 2:25 PM

happy 5th b-day baddy!

i asked chris to hold ellie while i ran up stairs. i came back to this.  good job daddy!haha

can you believe nate is FIVE???? already????  mercy!  i wanted to have a low key day and no party, so nana, papa and quinn came up last night to surprise nate. was he ever surprised! i wish i filmed it!  it was the best reaction!

buddies having birthday pizza.  i sent chris and nate to get the pizza while mom, dad and quinn came in the house and hid in the back room....chris brought home 5 pizza's!  seriously? we will be eating pizza for days!  ha!

then nate showed off his sister to quinn. i heard him say "no, quinn. she's MY sister" haha

then we went for ice cream. so yummy!

this morning they built egypt for the king and queen

and off we went for nate's b-day surprise. i stayed in the shade feeding ellie,. chris took some pics for me

the boys off planning the fun

water war!

they got soaked

paddle boats and a few other activities in between

ellie

quinn loving on her. the boys are totally taken with her and i think quinn said he wants another sister...haha

and some go-karting was had

check out the determined faces

quinn was like this the whole time

check out the faces and serious driving. haha

papa and his boys

how i spent most of the day. yep, still nursing with some topping up when needed.  we've got 3 wks under our belts!

and the cake. for the first time i did not make a cake. instead we went to t a bakery and the boys both got to pick out their own cake. they loved it!

and that was a glance at nate's 5th birthday. personally, i rather a family party than a huge kid party.  i think we will keep doing this. i can not believe that he's 5.  grateful beyond words to say thanks god for giving us another child. i am NOT ready for this to be over.  the 5 yrs went by so fast, i will miss it BUT we have the school yrs to look forward too!

happy birthday naters, i love you to the moon and back. hey! wanna go to the moon tonight?

(we go to the moon in his bed, it's a game i made up. he loves it) 2 comments

Posted by mel at 5:46 PM

so hot sunday!

after her bath sat night, in her new to her outfit (i said to chris she looks like a mix of pepto and a flower shop..ha)

i went to change boobs and looked back down to this

life can be so hard. ha!

sunday, love how she's hidden in my hair...which i've decided to cut...soon...someday...when i can...

more milk mom. hahaha

and nate wanted his own and wanted me to post it too

so after church, nate was being a terd, (yes i just joking called my son a terd) he was! he was being bothersome, and not listening etc after thinking about what to do and how to handle him (after another long nursing session that resulted in formula) i took nate out. just him and me. 

i realised it was the first time in over 3 weeks that we've done something together.  a long time when nate is so use to hanging with me.  i let him choose what to do and where to go. he choose victoria park. after 5 mins it was too hot and he wanted to sit in the shade under a tree. so we did...for 30 mins. we just talked. nate then asked if he could sit in my lap like he use to

so he did and we just chilled. nate told me so much but most important his love tank was filled and he returned to normal....some what normal

nate told me this morning that he no longer wants a baby brother but another sister, just like eliana because "my sister is just the cutest gurl in the wurld" (he says gurl for girl and wurld for world) between him and chris this house has baby fever! 4 comments

Posted by mel at 12:19 PM

our saturday

i ran up stairs to grab a sleeper and asked nate to watch his sister. i came back to this. i was able to snap all these pics with out nate seeing me. he was talking to her

she was listening

i think they will get along

awww my 2 kids

we took nate out in this dreadful heat to hang out with him.  ellie slept for about 10 mins

nate taking a break from mini putt

nursing again. sigh.  i am only sighing because i don't have the milk she needs. she fed for almost 2 hrs at lunch today and screamed for more food

yesterday afternoon i nursed again on and off for 3 hrs and last night i nursed again for over an hour and chris had to top her up with 2 OUNCES.  obviously she is not getting enough. sob sob

i have spent time praying about this and i feel peace for what we decide to do.  we met with the dr yesterday for her weight in and she is not up to her birth weight, i was strongly encouraged to sub her with formula to get her up.  we go back in 10 days for another weigh in

i think we make too much of a flack about how we choose to feed our babies.  what is the most important thing?  nourishment! a fed baby!  i do believe that breast is best (althou i detest that phrase) i love, love, love nursing her and i am so grateful for the 2+ weeks i've done it!  it's been a babymoon for me and i am thankful to god for it

no i am not 'quitting' nursing!  i am going to keep doing what i'm doing and sub her with formula so she's full

but. priority is a fed baby!

and back to mini putt! he did really well!

chris and his snuggle girl. she LOVES being held and cuddled. i love it too!

tree climbing boy!

i like being a family of 4!

p.s shawn!  i got your note today that you left me in the kitchen. hahaha

(he wrote shawn was here in the dust) 2 comments

Posted by mel at 3:54 PM

yep, you guessed it!

more eliana pics!  she is already saying "no more pics mom!"

daddy and daughter snuggles

and my personal fav.  love her, love her look. note how she mastered the art of holding one's sookie at 11 days old!  not that she uses it a whole lot!?!

yesterday she celebrated her 2 week birthday! seriously! already?!?! nuts!  we go to the dr tomorrow for her weigh in, i am not worried. she lost 9% of her birth weight at the hospital and we have 5 oz's left to get there.  she is a low weight, breast fed baby so they take a bit longer to gain the weight

nursing-yesterday was not so good, i had to sub formula for her supper, just didn't have enough.  BUT today was great! i had enough for all her feeds! yeah for us!  i am taking it day by day and not stressing over it

today was also he first day that all 4 of us were home alone together. it went well over all. nate has some adjustments to make not with the baby! but with not being at mom and dad's and getting spoiled. ha.  he did well thou! mighty proud of the boy! 

with any season change there are adjustments to make....and through it all god is with us
3 comments

Posted by mel at 6:36 PM

happy b-day quinn!

*
have a wonderful birthday my first ever nephew!  i can not believe you can flying into our world 5 YRS! ago that sunny, hot, summer morning.  i missed your birth by 5 mins! i was parking the car when you were born. (ok being totally honest here, i was like 38 wks pregnant with nate at the time and demand a tim's stop for food on the way there...if i didn't stop to eat i would have made it in time BUT i would have been hungry and cranky...haha) you came fast, furious, loud and comical and have remained that way...plus adding more sparkle to your character line up as the yrs go by

can are no longer a baby, toddler, preschooler but a school aged boy! you dress, eat, brush your teeth, help with chores, pick up toys, clean (some what. haha) wipe your own bum! all by yourself...aunty is so proud of you, you crazy loud, always talking, singing, playing, acting! and creating a buzz where ever you go. 

AND you go to school this yr!  sigh. where have the yrs gone?  we love you!  have a wonderful birthday party today, my little party planning protege!

happy 5th birthday quinn!!!

*and you guys thought this would be another picture filled post about eliana....haha 3 comments

Posted by mel at 10:11 AM