Better Late than Never

Hard to believe it was two weeks ago that Carter and I left before the crack of dawn to visit family and friends down south. We had a fantastic visit. We stayed with my sister-in-law who always opens her home to us and all of our stuff. We had less stuff this time since we flew but that meant we had to borrow lots from her which she had ready for us when we arrived. Thanks Susan! It is always a treat to stay with you and your boys.

Speaking of her boys - it was so much fun to watch the cousins play with each other. Robert was so excited to see Carter. In fact, Robert is always excited to see anyone who comes to his house whether it be Mimi, Poppa & Nana, Adam, etc. - and although we are all pretty fun visitors I have always been impressed with the way Susan and Warren build the excitement and anticipation of visitors. They have been doing this for a couple of years and you can tell Robert has been expecting you whenever you arrive. Now that he is older they are working on teaching days and how long it will be before someone visits - a good lesson to learn. For example as soon as we arrived he asked, "when is Adam coming?" I told him Adam would be here when he woke up Saturday morning, which then translated to "not tomorrow, not the next day, but the next."

We let them play together lots and even managed to have all three boys taking afternoon naps together most days. But we did force one semi-formal photo shoot. A couple of hundred photos later we ended up with a couple of cute shots.
Isn't this shot of Robert and Carter precious? Carter loved watching his big cousin Robert and tried to keep up with him as much as possible. Robert would slow down every once in a while to come sit with Carter and play with him very gently. It was very sweet.

I wasn't sure how the Eastern/Central time difference would affect Carter's sleep. There was so much excitement in the afternoon that I was able to keep him up until 7:00 central time which was an hour later for his internal clock time. I was hoping this would help him sleep until 7:00 central time in the morning (despite the fact that everything I have read said babies sleeping clocks don't work that way!) But Carter woke anywhere from 5:00-6:00 each morning which meant I was very glad and eager to visit my favorite coffee shop from home each morning. What a treat. :) Another highlight from the trip was all the grandparent time we were able to pack in. Carter's grandparents live in four different cities but they are close enough together that when we are close enough to visit one we try to visit all. It can be tricky - but all of the grandparents are flexible which really helps. In the end all of the crazy scheduling and traveling is totally worth it. Carter's Granddaddy and GG came by to see him every day and laughed so hard a couple of time he got tears in his eyes. Poppa spent Wednesday night with his three grandsons {even though he wasn't feeling well :) } and came back again on Saturday for more fun. Mimi came up for a visit on Thursday and even did some babysitting while Susan and I ran a couple of errands on Friday. And Gram and Gramma came for a BBQ lunch gathering on Saturday. Wow. Although I ended up taking more pictures of the 3 boys than the grandparent's I just couldn't resist posting this picture of Carter and Granddaddy on the swing. The weather was absolutely perfect while we were there. We were able to play outside every day - which meant lots of swing time. Jack and Carter took turns on the swing - and Jack was even kind enough to bring Carter a truck to hold on to while he was swinging. What a sweetie.Their house is like a giant playground in the afternoon. From 4-6 or so in the afternoon there were anywhere from 10-20 kids playing in their yard and driveway. One of the favorite toys is this Gator. Robert is a pro at driving it - but he has had plenty of practice thanks to Jack who will sit in the Gator until someone comes to drive him around. The Gator is parked in the garage when not in use and Jack will go sit in the Gator in the garage facing the wall with his hands holding on ready to go until someone comes to start driving. Hilarious. Only a matter of time before Jack realizes he can make the Gator move himself!
All in all it was a wonderful visit with lots of laughter and many special memories. In addition to all the great family time I had some special friend time too. A good friend of mine from high school had a baby while we were there so I was able to visit her in the hospital and meet her precious baby Owen - Congratulations JoAnna! I also had dinner with several of my college friends plus kids - more to come on that later. Phew. What a trip. I was exhausted for at least a couple of days once we got home but it was totally worth it. Believe it or not I am ready to do it again!