Introducing Matthew Paul Carroll

Meet the newest little man of the family.....Matthew Paul Carroll.
Born June 18th, 2012 at 4:28 PM.  Weighing 8 Pounds, 8 Ounces.  21 Inches Long

We are truly and madly in love with him.

Labor and Delivery was SO much better than his big brother's! 

I woke up in labor on the morning of June 18th, being in denial that I was actually in labor.....I got ready for work, had breakfast and was about to get dressed to leave the house. Ben convinced me that maybe we should start timing contractions.....sure enough 5 minutes apart.


We called Ben's Parents and they quickly came and picked up big brother.

We had a regularly scheduled appointment with our doctor at 8:30 AM and afraid I would get stuck in an observation room if I went into Labor and Delivery, we decided to just wait until our appointment. It seemed to help to walk, so Ben and I walked up and down our street (mind you, it is 6:45 in the morning!). I am sure our neighbors were scared I was going to give birth right there on the street!

Ben and I went to our appointment and they quickly got us in, the doctor came in and confirmed it was time to go and we were sent to Labor and Delivery. Within the hour, we were checked in, IV going, and epidural placed (ahhh.....relief!).

We had the sweetest nurse, Candance, who took care of us all day.

With John Michael, I was in constant pain (I am now convinced my epidural truly wasn't placed right), but with Matthew....I was good as gold.
No pain.....just starvation! I was ready to eat.

Ben was taking pictures of me all day.....I told him I needed a picture of what I was having to look at all day.....this was him trying to convince me that the ice chips were really ice cream.......

 Action Shot.......a sweet nurse took pictures for us. I love Ben's Face:

I was checked once and I was still steady at a "5" and then checked again and was quickly a "10"!

I was in a little shock that it was time to meet our little man!
28 minutes of pushing later (I was VERY determined not to push all day), the second cutest little boy entered the world. He instantly won our hearts.

Ben and I then had a decision to make....what were we going to name this child??
We decided on: Matthew Paul. We are very traditional, I know........

Matthew --> One of Jesus' Apostles (along with 'John')
Paul --> My Father's (Randy) middle name. ('Michael' as in John Michael is Ben's Father's middle name)

 

 Daddy  Welcoming Him into the world:

First time I got to hold him; 

First Photo:

 My awesome Doctor:

Our Sweet Nurse:

 I love this picture....this was when Big Brother was able to see his little brother for the first time:

 My Boys:

 First Family Photo:

Two Year Old Celebrations

On John Michael's Actual Birthday, I suprised him at School with a Little Mickey Party!

We had Mickey Mouse Cupcakes and Apple Juice. It was so much fun to see him interact with all his little friends! John Michael with his sweet teacher Ms. Lorinda:

After the Party, John Michael and I popped over to get a Slushy at Sonic and then had a great time playing outside!

When Dada got off of work, we met up at Chuckie Cheese! We ate some pizza and had a lot of fun "playing" games. Dada and John Michael's favorite was the basketball hoops!

After Chuckie Cheese, we went to Ops and Nana's house to continue the party! We had another round of cupcakes and singing (at this point) the FAVORITE Happy Birthday Song!

Ops and Nana helped us get started on John Michael's college fund by introducing him to real golf clubs (we are already thinking golf scholarship!). He was so excited!

The following weekend we had another Mickey Mouse celebration!

It consisted of all of John Michael's favorite foods: Chick-fil-a Fruit and Nuggets, Cake, and Ice Cream! He had so much fun being the center of attention!

Four Generations Picture: Mama Pat holding Abby; I'm holding Baby Boy Carroll; "Meme" is holding Riley; "Aunt" Jennifer holding John Michael

Meme and Dado gave John Michael his very own Coloring Table! As you can see, he loved it!

Hey Baby Abby!

Our Baby is No Longer a Baby

John Michael IS 2 Years Old!

Ben and I are in shock how fast it went.

I swear just last week, he was this small:

And Just Yesterday, he was this little boy:

Now he is a Little Man!

Some Facts About our Two Year Old:

* He is such a charmer! He knows when he is center stage and puts on a show!

* Speech: Even though he still gets very frustrated when he cannot communicate something effortlessly to you......his speech seems to be improving and changing every day! He imitates what you say (For Example: I yelled 'Ben' tonight from outside--Ben was inside -- and after I yell, I hear JM yell 'Ben!').

* There is something that definitely has not changed.....the boy still LOVES music! He is always clapping, dancing, and singing....sometimes just to his own music! His favorite songs: "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" Theme song, "His Grace is Enough", "Happy and You Know it", and here lately the "Happy Birthday" song. He also loves to make his own music....using anything he can find.....Tupperware seems to be the most fun!

* Favorite Foods: Milk! Blackberries, Strawberries, Chicken Nuggets, Macaroni and Cheese, Ritz Crackers, Yogurt, Infant Cereal, and cookies!

* Craves routine. He loves having a schedule and sticking to it.

* Loves to color!

* John Michael CRAVES his Independence. He wants to crawl into his car seat, walk by himself (with no holding hands), climb up the stairs, Drink from a Big cup.

* Still very much Loves Animals and has absolutely no fear of them.

* John Michael is such a helper! I (Mom) love this age because I can ask him to do something and I am not asked 'Why?' And after he does the task, he is so proud of himself!

* He is definitely "all boy". He loves to run fast, be chased, wrestled with, knock over things, grass stains on the clothes, drive his 4-Wheeler, Throw/Catch Balls.

* Momma's Favorite Time of Day: Right before Bed. The three of us read a book, say our prayers, and then HUGS! He gives the best hugs and kisses (and even kisses his little brother!).

* Dad's Favorite Time of Day: Listening to JM bust out some Veggie Tales praise songs on our drive to school each morning.

* Sleeping: He goes to bed between 7:30 - 7:45 and wakes up around 5:30 (he has never 'grown out' of waking up early!). He moved to a Toddler Bed in December 2011. He really disliked his crib but he loves his Toddler Bed!

John Michael definitely has his own personality and opinion these days.

We love John Michael so much. It is mind-boggling to us that we have another boy on the way.....how can our love grow even more? But I know it will and I know our heart will burst with joy seeing how wonderful John Michael is with his little brother.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for our family throughout his second year. We ask that you continue praying for him and that one day John Michael will understand salvation and ask Jesus to come into his heart!

Baby Carroll #2

If you haven't heard already......we have an announcement.......

We are expecting Baby C #2!

Ben and I are beyond thrilled! John Michael, these days, seems VERY interested in babies (especially his new cousin Abby) so it should be lots of fun!

Finding out we are expecting is a story I will always remember............

I have been suffering from a illness since around August and have been on medication since then. I had called my doctor to get a refill on the medicine and just as a side note asked if I could be "late" due to the medication (I was three days late). She told me that it should not be causing those issues. She told me to take a pregnancy test and to tell the pharmacist if I was pregnant or not because she would call both medications in and whichever I needed to get. I told the doctor "I'm not pregnant." Famous last words!

I went to Harps Pharmacy and bought the cheapest test you can find, went to the bathroom, peed on the stick, and waited the two minutes. I was frustrated at this point.....I mean, really, I was not pregnant. I waited and I only saw 1 Pink Line (Negative). Throw the test back in the bag and in my purse, told the pharmacist it was negative, got the medication and left.

When I got into the car, I just wanted to confirm and looked at the test again......hmmmmm....is that a second line? No way, I'm just making things up in my head. Right?

I had to go to Wal-mart to pick up a toy I ordered that had come in so I decided to go ahead and pickup one of the "expensive" tests.....you know, the type that tells yous "Pregnant" or "Not Pregnant". I went to the Wal-mart bathroom again and WOW......one minute later, I'm in shock.

I'm pretty sure I RAN out of Wal-mart. I had a zillion emotions running them me (mostly shock! and excitement). I had not told Ben about my adventure because I hadn't wanted to bother him at work for just a "negative" pregnancy test so I was a little worried about telling him. Not worried because he would be upset that we are expecting, but I felt like I had "robbed" him of the opportunity to be there for the test!

I called Ben and asked him if he would shut his office door. By this time, I was crying a little and he was really worried...."Allison, What is going on?!?!"

I then sent him this picture:

Ben was SO excited! I could hear him smiling over the phone!

What is really great......all of this running around was done within my 1 hour lunch break. Let me tell you, not much work was done that afternoon!

I will always have one good story to tell him OR her on their birthday every year!

This is our sweet baby due on June 21st:

Fair!

To say John Michael loves animals would be a true understatement.
Ben and I were so excited to take him to the Fair this year to see the animals that he doesn't typically get to interact with. He LOVED it.

Talking with Mr. Pig......his nose was sticking out of the catch and John Michael took the opportunity to have a little chat with him.

We were so impressed by the FFA teenagers at the fair. All of them were so nice and went out of their way to show us the animals. Many of them stopped while they were walking their animals to another stall and let JM pet them.

After the animals, there was only one ride we wanted to take John Michael....the Merry-Go-Round. At first, he was NOT into it and was very unhappy. However, as soon as the ride actually began.....he loved it! Ben and I took a turn riding with him and standing outside the Merry Go Round might have been the best part....he wanted in anticipation to see the other and waved and blew lots of kisses!

After the ride was over.....he didn't wan to get off!

After all the fun we had....we had to have a snack! John Michael's favorite was definitely the fresh squeezed Lemonade!

We had so much fun and cannot wait to go again next time!

My Boys

I went on a shopping expedition this past weekend with my two Sister-n-laws and Mother-n-law to NorthWest Arkansas.

Because of my girls weekend....it meant my boys were to fend for themselves.....

This is what they did!


Ben and John Michael participated in "Paint the Park Pink" on Saturday morning and walked in honor of my grandmother, "Mama" Anna, and her survival of breast cancer!

The boys had a great time and it made me so proud!

After the walk, they cheered on the Razorbacks! (Sadly, we lost....but no reason to dwell on that!)

I was so glad the boys got to have some "guy" time......both of them had such a good day!

John Michael sure loves his daddy!

We're Back!

I know....I know....I have not blogged in forever. Life just simply has gotten into the way......and we just enjoyed summer way too much!!

John Michael is doing great......growing every day!

We just recently went to his 18 Month Appointment and here are his stats:

Weight: 24 Pounds 12 Oz (40% Percentile)

Height: 33.5" (70% Percentile)

He can Say So Many Things these days:

Mama, Dada, Hello, Hi, Hey, Bye-Bye, Dog, More Please, Hot Bannana, Meme, Dado, Mamaw, Ops, Nana, Ball, No, Riley, Ready Go, Car

He is a VERY active and ALL boy. He LOVES to be outside, running, chasing and throwing balls, mowing the grass, and riding in his wagon.

He LOVES (and has no fear of) animals....espeically dogs.

He Gives hugs and kisses (with a pucker sound!) when asked. He also throws many kisses.

Here's to hoping I'll blog again very soon! :)