180°

I have been looking forward to this 3 day weekend for quite awhile. Truth be told, I can't remember the last time we had a 3 day weekend at home with nothing that 'had' to be done and nowhere we 'had' to go. (I use 'had' very loosely, because we have a 'to do' list that is very long for the weekend.) It seems Adam has had to work previous holidays and he had class on both Memorial Day and Labor Day while in graduate school. Especially after being gone for 2 weekends in a row, my expectations for this weekend were HUGE.

And then Friday night came. We were exhausted from the week (which is pretty typical) and we fell behind on our plans. And then Saturday afternoon came and Carter didn't take a nap so we fell further behind. After we gave up on Carter's nap time and our work around the house time we decided to just go for a walk. I pretty much complained and vented for most of our walk. Adam said he was feeling the same thing which made me feel a little better, but I was still bummed at our lack of progress almost half way into our 3 day weekend. I was having a pity party and it wasn't very much fun.

But we rallied last night and accomplished more today than should have been possible. Here is a quick list of the past 24 hours...

We finally painted the kitchen. I wore this lovely mask to keep the fumes away.



Adam did most of the work, partly because that mask prevented me from looking up and painting top trim comfortably, also because I don't trust my balance on a ladder right now while carrying my little basketball. So I put 2 coats on all of the bottom trim and then Adam stayed up to finish the rest. He never complained, never said he was tired, just got it done. Thanks, dear.

This morning we were all excited to pull away the plastic and look at the finished product.





We really like it! Now if we could just find a backsplash tile that we like and that is in stock we can finish the kitchen!

After standing around the kitchen for too long, we headed to church (a bit late), then came home for some turtle pool time. We were doing our best to tire Carter out for a good nap today.







It worked. We had over 2 hours of quiet work time. Adam tore down some closets in our basement to make room for some tupperware storage. We added a small pantry/kitchen appliance shelf area, a studio/workspace area for Adam, and started working on sorting stuff for a garage sale later this summer.

Once naptime was over, Carter went across the street to our neighbor's house to play for a bit so we could work on the guest room, which is about to be turned into a big boy room for Carter! We broke down the guest bed and traded mattresses between our bed and the guest bed. (pictures of basement and big boy room progress to come later)

Carter came home for a quick bite to eat, then we all headed to a baseball game. Carter enjoyed clapping to "We Will Rock You" and whenever the other team got a hit (which was more often then when our team got a hit.) He was a fan of the big event for sure.

Now he is quiet again, I decided to relax on the couch and do a lil' blogging, Adam is watering the garden, and I hope we can stay up to catch Treme before the day is over.

All in all, a pretty good day. My pity party is over. Yay!

A, B, C Time

Carter has been a big fan of the alphabet ever since that puzzle we gave him for Christmas. We continue to enjoy that puzzle as well as a few other puzzles that involve the alphabet. And recently we have been hooked on the Letter Factory video. Best $10 I have spent at Target in a long time. After watching it maybe 4 times, Carter was imitating most of the letter sounds. Here is a video of Carter working on some of those sounds. Warning, it is bit on the long side, but if you watch to the end, you can see Carter say his A,B,Cs.

The password is: abc

Where to begin?

We have been to Georgia and back and had lots of fun along the way.

We spent a few days in north Georgia with Gram...

Snuck over to Chattanooga to spend some time with some dear college friends and their kiddos...

Reunited with Daddy in Atlanta...

Visited the Georgia Aquarium with Carter's favorite cousins...









Played at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens...







And even managed to have some fun at a toddler friendly amusement park on the way home...









It was a fantastic trip but it is always good to be home.

On the Road...

We are in Georgia for the week. Adam has 2 conferences to attend so Carter and I decided to tag along and visit some friends and family.

We headed out Saturday morning. We traveled 6+ car hours on Saturday and stopped in the Greenville area that night. Saturday was a long hotel night. We first tried to set Carter up in the pack n play in the bathroom of the hotel room, but he wasn't a fan. He kept calling out "up! up! up!" until we gave in. So then we tried to all go to bed early by having him in the pack n play in the room with us. This didn't work out so well either as this time he knew we were in the room and he continued with the "up! up! up!" but this time they were even more emphatic. At 11:00 we finally got him asleep, but he ended up in the bed with us from 4-7 or so. Not a night I care to repeat any time soon.

Two things I learned from our restless night. 1) Carter is a squirmy sleeper. 2) I have crazy pregnancy dreams. I sometimes remember them, but I think the squirmy sleeper contributed to my light sleeping that night and boy did I remember some insane dreams the next morning. Adam will agree completely that my dreams are much more "creative" while pregnant.

We headed out a little bleary eyed Sunday morning for Atlanta. We dropped Adam off at a Marta station so he could head to the airport to catch a bus for a tour of several planned communities in the south. He has taken more pictures than I have during his trip, so I will give you a quick recap of his travels by his cell phone camera.

The first update I received came at 5:03 via text and it said "Bus broke down in nowhere Alabama." Turns out "nowhere Alabama" was about 10 minutes north of Eufaula so the good bus ended up dropping their passengers off in Eufaula and then came to get the broken bus passengers and take them to Eufaula too.

We had recently read an article in Garden & Gun magazine about Southern Dream Towns. Eufaula was on the list. Whenever I read these types of articles I imagine what it would be like to live in this new town that has just been perfectly described in a few short paragraphs. They help me create this perfect image in my head that makes me ready to put a For Sale sign in the yard and get there as soon as possible. I must admit that growing up in Alabama, I never expected Eufaula to be on the list, but I did always enjoy driving through the quaint town on the way to the beach.

Anyhow, Adam got to explore Eufauala with 2 busloads of planners, architects and the like yesterday. It wasn't one of the planned communities on the itinerary, but I think he made the most of it. He found a house for us to fix up.



And then he enjoyed a lovely dinner compliments of the Piggly Wiggly.



Not quite Bud & Alley's at Seaside, but hey, a bottled coke is pretty fantastic.

And he did get to wake up to this view this morning.



Thankfully my trip hasn't been quite as eventful. We arrived at Gram's house yesterday afternoon and enjoyed a lovely dinner celebrating my Uncle's birthday on the 13th and my Granddaddy's 97th (that's right - NINETY-SEVEN!!!) birthday on the 10th.



Carter is enjoying Gram's house, especially the new books and toys, and the poor cat Murphy who has been chased up the stairs multiple times. I have enjoyed a good nights sleep and then had a great visit with some dear college friends this morning. Here is a shot of all the kiddos - from left to right - Carter (23 mo), Ava (13 mo), Coleman (7 mo), Allie (3). What a treat!

Boys and Botanicals

Stealing a post today from a friend who blogged about our boys playing together at the Botanical Gardens last week. Enjoy!

Anniversary on the Bay

Mimi recently visited and gave Tracy and me a chance to get away and celebrate our sixth anniversary. We wanted to be within a couple of hours drive, but wanted to explore somewhere new. After a bit of research Tracy found a great place in the Northern Neck region of Virginia. The area is surrounded by the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay so there was plenty of good seafood and quaint towns.

We found a great place to stay in Irvington. It is a quaint inn with cottages around a fountain courtyard out back. They served two incredible breakfasts the mornings we were there. It was a great setting to relax.





We strolled around the town with no set agenda. First time we've had time for that in quite awhile. We stopped at a coffee shop and figured out plans for the weekend.



Saturday morning there was an impressive farmers market/craft fair in Irvington. That's our inn in the background. Our timing was great--this was the first market of the season. It turned out to be a great event with lots of fresh produce and plants and interesting crafts.



After the Market we ventured up to the next town, Kilmarnook, which had a quaint downtown. We strolled through the shops and found a great toy for Carter at a local toy shop. From there we headed up the road to a small fishing town along the bay. The owners of our inn had recommended a certain restaraunt for good, fresh, down-home seafood. It was just what we were looking for. We placed our orders inside the simple cinderblock building, strolled out to the adirondack chairs, and enjoyed our fried seafood lunches while looking out acorss the bay. Talk about fresh...as we ate a boat pulled up behind the restaurant and unloaded crates and crates of fresh crabs.





After lunch we made our way to a couple of natural and recreation areas along the Bay (thank you Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation). At each we parked the car, walked through a natural area, and then the woods opened up to the broad Chesapeake.





On our way back home on Sunday we had a liesurely drive through the countryside. We stopped off at Stratford Hall, the long-ago home of the Lee family (birthplace of Robert E. Lee, although he was only there until age 4). Given our history with Monticello, it was hard not to compare, but it was interesting to hear about the family, the plantation, and the history, and to enjoy the beautiful setting.

After that we found lunch and fresh strawberries at a strawberry farm on the way home.



It was a great weekend getaway. Thank you Mimi.

Feeling Loved

My boys have made me feel incredibly loved this morning.

Carter slept a little past seven and then spent 30 minutes snuggling/reading with us in bed. At one point I asked for a kiss and he practically tackled me in bed latched on to my neck and gave me the best hug and kiss. What a sweetie.

Adam fixed me a yummy mother's day breakfast and worked almost 8 hours at the office yesterday so he could spend the day with us today.

I have received the sweetest e-mails, phone calls, and cards wishing me a happy mother's day - thanks! They really touched me.

All 3 of my boys gave me cards. Carter insisted on helping me open them.



And our latest little guy hinted at a taste of what "might" be coming my way as a momma.



Good thing Da Da is allergic to cats.