Meet Ben

We are overjoyed to announce Ben has arrived!



7 lbs, 15 oz
21 inches
6:24 a.m.

More details to come. For now I will just let you know that I got to the hospital at 5:30 a.m., so it all happened really fast!

To see more pictures, check out the new album in the left sidebar or click on this link.

Thanks for celebrating with us!

baby update

It has been a good weekend. Lots of Carter play time. A few chores. Church this morning.

Some mild to moderate contractions started late this afternoon and have come and gone all night. They are 10 minutes or so apart right now. Not headed to the hospital yet. Going to try and get at least one more good night of sleep.

Will update more in the morning.

39 Week Update

I hit 39 weeks on Tuesday, which means I only have 4 days until my due date!

I had a check up yesterday and thought I would give a quick update. Here it is: No change.

I was really hoping for a little bit of progress, but it looks like our little guy is going to stay put a bit longer.

The good news is that Mimi arrived yesterday so whenever this baby decides it is showtime, Carter will be all set hanging out with Mimi. I have lost count of how many "Mimi too!"s there have been since she arrived less than 24 hours ago.

I am feeling good. Actually better this week than last. I am starting to increase my walking every day and we have plans of making the famous Atlanta Scalini's Eggplant Parmesan dish this weekend to try to jump start labor. We made this dish 2 days before my due date with Carter and he was born less than 48 hours later. We are making it again as tradition this time, but if it 'works' again - GREAT!

My next tentative appointment is set for Wednesday, September 1st. And we have an induction scheduled Wednesday, September 8th if nothing happens by then.

I will keep you posted as things change. Have a great Friday and wonderful weekend!

Memory...check.

This post is definitely not about my memory. These days I must have a list else I forget where I am going, what I am doing, etc.

But Carter on the other hand, is developing quite the little memory. I really enjoy asking him questions at the end of the day over dinner about what we did, where we went, who we saw, etc. Partly to share our day with daddy and partly just to see his mind work to come up with the answers and hear him try to say the words he wants to say.

One day last week Carter became perplexed by a spot on our baseboards in the kitchen. I think it was some dried glue from either the hardwood refinishing or countertop installation. Anyhow, he knew it shouldn't be there and wanted to get it off. I told him to ask Daddy to fix it when he got home. (I use that solution a good bit around here!)

Shortly after Adam got home and had changed out of his work clothes, Carter starts saying "Daddy fix kitchen, Daddy fix kitchen" over and over again. We hadn't talked about it in several hours. I was amazed at his memory. Here they are removing the glue.



Another quick memory story, but this time the time lapse was a full week! Before Adam took Carter to a Sunday baseball game the weather was looking a bit questionable. We had been talking about going to a birthday party and then to the game. On the way to the birthday party it was raining, so I tried to explain to Carter that if it was still raining after the party that we couldn't go to the baseball game because they can't play in the rain. He seemed ok with this at the time. Luckily, the weather was great after the party and they did get to go to the game.

A week later, this past Sunday, we were out running errands and a big rain storm popped up. Carter starts saying "rain, rain" and then started saying "no baseball." Pretty cool, huh?

Now, I just want to know, will I get my memory back after this baby is born, or is Carter stealing my memory?

Project Complete...for now.

We finished the letter project that I gave you a sneak peek of last week.

Before I get to the finished result, I thought I might take a minute to explain how this project came about. When I was trying to decide how to change up the nursery for Ben, I came across a few pictures that inspired me to do an alphabet theme.




I found a great website called Craft Cuts where you could order whatever letter you wanted, in whatever font, size, and thickness that you wanted. I tried to pick out a variety of fonts and I created a template in power point with the various fonts and sizes to make sure I would like the mix before I ordered.

Instead of doing a lot of different colors, I really wanted to keep the nursery blue, green, and brown. So we hit up Lowes and Wal-Mart and purchased several different shades of blue spray paint. Adam finished painting the letters on Saturday (after our previous rain out attempt) and we put them on the wall Sunday afternoon.

Here is our assembly line hard at work...



And here is the finished result...





It really fills up the wall and we are very pleased with it! Only two problems so far. The "w, x, y, & z" are very appealing to Carter while we try to change him on the changing table. Hoping that new interest will fade soon. Also, some of the letters are not staying on the wall very well. Most of the letters are thin and not very heavy so we used some of that poster sticky tape that you can later remove without any wall damage. We have lost a couple of letters and obviously need to find something a little bit stronger. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

It was a fun project and Carter is now very excited about Ben's room. He would come sit in my lap, look at the wall, and say his A,B,Cs as Adam was putting up the final letters.

Ma! There's Nothing to Do Here!

I found this book at the library this week and it is very fitting for my 38th week of pregnancy.



It is a rhyming book from a baby's point of view in utero. Pretty funny. Especially for me as I carry this baby boy around. Here is the text from one of my favorite pages...

“I’m all in a heap here.
My feet are asleep here.
I’m flat out of space.
I’ve got knees in my face.
And I’m totally bored
with this dumb bungee cord…
I’m NOT kidding you…
there is NOTHING to do!”

And here is proof that this little guy is all out of space...pictures from 8/12...so over a week ago.



And here is a shot of Carter trying to stick out his belly like Mama. Whose belly is bigger? (Wait, please don't answer that!)



I had my 38 week check up on Wednesday. My doctor is in Africa so I saw a nurse practitioner. She gave me more information than my doctor ususally does, but I wasn't prepared to remember it all! Anyhow, here are the stats for those that are interested - 1 cm, 50% effaced, baby estimated at 7-7.5 lbs as of now.

I am definitely slowing down. The ends of the days are exhausting. My hips continue to prepare for labor with those shooting pains. In fact, I had a tough round of them when we were at the mall on Monday. We were walking from the food court to the bathroom and I had to stop every few steps to either try to shake the pain out or lift my knee to find a more comfortable spot. I am sure I looked silly. But, sweet Carter joined right in and started shaking and lifting his leg too.

The book closes with this...

“So, Ma, here’s the plan.
Let’s rest while we can.
I’ll stay in here longer-
Get bigger, grow stronger.
Then ready…set…YAY!
I’ll be comin’ to play!”

Until then, I am soaking up as much Carter time as I can!

Road Trip

In the lead up to Ben’s arrival we have been working furiously to get projects done around the house. But this past weekend Carter and I snuck away on a road trip to Charlottesville. It gave us boys some fun time together and gave Tracy some much-needed time to stitch.

So Saturday morning Carter and I loaded up for the day. We turned on some rock n roll, pointed the car west, and headed out. After plenty of air guitar and air drums…and cheerios and coffee, we stopped at an orchard overlooking town. We tromped up and down the hills, picked and ate apples and peaches, and had a blast.







Next, we headed downtown fur lunch. Carter made a point to stop and “dance” for each street musician. Pretty entertaining stuff. After some great pizza, we picked up some goodies for Tracy and Ben and headed home.



Carter was asleep before we hit the interstate. What a great day!




-BY ADAM
(More pictures in the August album)

Nursery Project - Sneak Peek

We received a package in the mail on Saturday that I had been anticipating for some time. In fact, I was so excited about it that I tried to lower my expectations before it came so I wouldn't be too disappointed. Well, the box arrived...



...and I am thrilled with the result.

I was hoping to have more of the completed project to show you this morning.

But just as soon as we got everything all set up for painting...it started raining.



More to come next weekend when hopefully we can finish and hang this fun nursery project.

Weekend O' Work

We had a special visitor this past weekend. Poppa came to town. Partly to help with some chores around the house. Partly to play with Carter. He did both and then some.

One item on the pre-baby to do list was to paint the playroom. It has been what I like to call a smurf blue since we moved in. Then we added a/c duct work to the addition so there was a funny ledge and corner piece that has been unfinished sheetrock for over a year. Adam and I started on Saturday night. I gave out a bit early and Adam stayed up late to finish the first coat. Here is the before picture.



On Sunday morning Adam started on the second coat while I took Carter to church.



Poppa worked miracles in our jungle of a backyard while Adam painted.



You can see him through the window pulling weeds/vines/etc. He was a trooper working so hard in our heat wave. But the pathways and mulch areas look fantastic now!

Poppa also helped hang some of the new artwork around the house...



And he also changed his 'required' light fixture for this visit. He has changed a light fixture every time he has come so far. The dining room, our bedroom, the playroom, now the nursery.



He's coming back in November...I wonder what light fixture will be on the list then. Or perhaps we will give him a break and just let him enjoy his new grandson.

We also enjoyed some yummy meals, Adam and I had a movie date, we visited the Farmer's Market, played at Romp n Roll, and Poppa and Carter got to ride a choo choo train at the mall. There was a lot of "Poppa too!" coming from Carter's mouth. Time to eat? Poppa too. Time to play with the train table? Poppa too! Time for night night? Poppa too. You get the picture.

Thanks for coming to visit, Poppa!

If These Walls Could Talk...

...they would tell us to quit putting holes in them! We have been hanging lots of new artwork around the house lately so I thought I would take you on a quick tour of some of the changes.

First up...Carter's Big Boy Room:



We ordered a few road signs for his transportation themed room. They arrived a bit larger and heavier than I expected. But I think this Railroad Crossing sign is just perfect. It is hanging directly above his new train table. There is also a "Slow - Children at Play" sign hanging over the changing table. And there is a real STOP sign sitting downstairs that didn't make the cut because it was just too big and too heavy. Anyone need a STOP sign?



We also ordered these posters off of eBay for Carter's room. They are hanging over his crib. We really liked the vintage feel of each of them and the colors really brighten up the room too. The posters are framed in 'do it yourself' frames from Michaels. You purchase 2 sets of framing pieces in whatever size you need. Then we got inexpensive glass cut to size at our local hardware store. We have used these frames on lots of different occasions over the years and they are great for framing something in a unique size inexpensively.

Carter's playroom also has a few new friends.





Adam painted the playroom this weekend and we hung Carter's old nursery animals in the newly painted playroom. They really fill up the walls and Carter was very excited to see his animal friends again.

This next piece is a very special piece. It was a one year anniversary gift from my dad. I am ashamed to admit that it took us close to 5 years to get it framed and hung on a wall, but I am very pleased with the end result and I don't think I would have chosen this frame or mat colors in the past so I am really glad that we waited. It is a cross-stitch of the chapel where we got married. The picture doesn't do it justice, but that is a 17x15" work of art with each square stitched.



We also added a fun picture collage to our stairwell. This was not an easy task. We had the frames all lined up in the foyer exactly how we wanted them. Somehow they didn't quite end up in the same layout on the wall. Our stairwell has a landing which threw off the proportions once the stairs started again. That may not make any sense - just trust me that it was difficult. Still, I think the end result turned out ok. It makes our stairs feel much homier to me. I can't wait to update the frames with some new pictures of our little guy once he is here.



And that brings me to the last picture. Take a look at what is hanging in the new nursery.



We are doing an alphabet theme in the nursery this time and thought this would be a fun way to have his name in his nursery. So, drumroll please, our little guy will be called Ben. :) We are still undecided on the middle name, but since Carter didn't have a name until it was time to write it on the birth certificate we think we are in good shape to come up with the full name before he is born.

Thanks for taking the tour with me. Hope you enjoyed!

A Sweet Sunday Shower

I was so blessed this past Sunday to be showered by several girls from church. It was a fun afternoon with onesie decorating, baby trivia, delicious snacks and cake, and wonderful fellowship. I was overwhelmed with everyone's generosity towards us as we get ready to welcome baby boy #2. Our little guy now has some really cute new clothes, is stocked in the diapers and wipes department, has a beautiful new blanket, his own themometer (glad he doesn't have to share that!), some new stacking toys, a precious picture frame, and a few other necessary supplies! It ALWAYS amazes me how much stuff these little ones require. It was such a wonderful afternoon and I am so appreciative to have such thoughtful friends in the area.

The cake was very yummy and very cute...


Here are the girls from church...there are 7 baby boys in the group and one unknown on the way...

June 25, 2010

I am finally going to finish our vacation recap - and it is even going to happen before Carter turns 3. Carter woke up on his 2nd birthday bright and early at 6 AM central time and with a whole new attitude. Seriously, it was almost as if he knew it was his first day as a 'terrible two' and he wanted to live up to it. He was just cranky and nothing seemed to make him happy. We tried to slip out of the house without waking anybody up that early and walked to grab a muffin and coffee from my favorite hometown coffee shop. Thankfully, Carter's mood improved, perhaps he just woke up hungry.

We headed back to the house and celebrated Carter's birthday with waffles for breakfast.



Next up, playground time! All the boys (plus Adam) enjoyed some swingtime.



After we were all thoroughly sweaty, we headed back for some sprinkler time. These 4 had a great time playing together for a couple of days. We were all a bit bummed that our gulf coast trip was cancelled due to the oil spill, but are hopeful to return next year.





After all of the boys had good naps, we walked up to a delicious bakery for birthday cookies! Carter had a tough time picking out his favorite cookie from the window.



He eventually decided on a yummy green dinosaur cookie. He ate every bite.



Since I failed to get a family picture at the birthday party I was determined to get one on the big day...



All in all, I think Carter had a great birthday and birthday week. Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate! I know we won't be able to be with so many family members for future birthdays so it was a real treat to celebrate with everyone! Carter shares his birthday with Adam's cousin Hillary, and we enjoyed celebrating with her that night after all of the boys were resting.

Our trip home was much less eventful than the trip down - thankfully! We decided to do the entire trip in one day and made it home a little after midnight I think, with a sleeping baby boy.

The next morning, we had one final birthday present for Carter from his mama and dada. A new train table - in his new big boy room!

Some One-on-One Time

Note: Started this post back in July...it is part of our vacation recap.

The Lake is a very special place. For those of you that don't know - Adam proposed to me on a secluded point of the lake while the sun was setting - We said "I Do" at a chapel on the Lake - and then we had our reception at a restaurant right on the water where you can get there by boat. We even traveled from the ceremony to the reception by boat with our wedding party.



Back in college when we were dating, I remember going to the Lake to visit Adam's dad for the weekend. During one of our first of many visits I remember coming back to school and still wanting to spend more time with Adam. In fact, I think he dropped me off at the dorm and then we went out for dinner later that night. We spent the entire weekend hanging out together and never tired of each other. It was just fun. Six years later I think we both still feel the same. There just isn't enough time to spend together - and it is still just fun.

While we were visiting Poppa's house (funny how he is no longer "Adam's dad" in my stories!) we were able to find a great Carter sitter for a night while Adam and I got to go on a dinner date. It was hands down one of the yummiest meals I have ever had. With the Executive Chef and Culinary Advisor both from Hot and Hot Fish Club in Bimringham, we had high expectations and they were definitely met. The decor was casual, rustic, and elegant all at the same time. I had the shrimp and grits and Adam had the Hickory Grilled Flat Iron Steak. We planned on sharing both plates but I definitely didn't want to give up my half of the shrimp and grits. So yummy. Thanks Poppa for the Carter sitting.

The next day, we continued our one-on-one time in Birmingham thanks to Mimi. She traveled a bit earlier than planned so she could have some one-on-one Carter time. It was a win/win. We decided to explore Pepper Place and had a great time just wandering and exploring some really cool shops.



We have heard great things about the Saturday market but we were there in the middle of the week and enjoyed a quieter Pepper Place experience. We picked up a really cool poster for our kitchen...a plant in a tin container to celebrate Susan and Warren's 10th anniversary from Charlie Thigpen's new store, and just enjoyed looking around.



Although every day with Carter brings new joys and new memories, it is still a treat to spend some time just with Adam. We are always grateful to our wonderful Carter sitters for letting us have some one-on-one time!

Summer Statistics

Our local newspaper yesterday highlighted some of the impressive statistics from our summer weather. Here are the highlights:

*2nd: July 2010 was the second hottest month on record only behind August 1900.

*94.8: The average high temperature for July. The highest on record for any month.

*100+: We had temperatures 100 degrees or higher for 7 days in July. More days than any other month on record. We have hit 100 degrees or higher 10 days year to date - another record.

*95+: We hit 95 degrees or hotter for 18 days in July - the most for any month on record.

*2.01: The number of inches of rain for June and July combined. The driest June-July on record.

*8: the number of months pregnant I am during this record setting summer!

I think these stats will definitely be recorded in the baby book. Who knows what August has in store for us?

Too & New

We have entered the stage of Carter putting words together and it is so much fun! He definitely has an opinion and can usually tell us what he wants. This can be good or not so good. A good example - "more grapes please." A not so good example - "Mama move feet" when my feet are resting on the ottoman - his favorite puzzle working spot.

We still have to do a good bit of interpreting and have to resort to asking him to show us what he is saying from time to time. But we learned an interesting statistic at his 2 year check-up. Our pediatrician told us that generally, you should be able to understand 1/2 of a toddler's words at 2, 3/4 of a toddler's words at 3, and all of a toddler's words by 4. I think 50% is pretty accurate for us right now. Some are just tough, but a few he has down quite well.

NEW:

We have quite the little consumer on our hands. He loves anything new. Thankfully, not everything "new" has to come from the store. Each week he is THRILLED with his "new books" and "new dvds" from the library. At the end of most days, he asks Daddy to build him "new tracks" on his train table. I recently picked up a pack of dinosaur cards from Target in those wonderful dollar bins. Those "new dino cards" were a hit for a good 2 weeks. At first he loved just taking the cards out and putting them back in the box. Then we started putting the dinosaur cards on top of an alphabet puzzle we had worked on the ottoman. We did this at least 25+ times.

TOO:

Lately, he has been on a kick of including whoever is around in whatever he is doing by adding the word "too" to the end of every sentence. At dinner last night, I encouraged him to take another bite of tomato and he says "Mama eat mato too" followed shortly by "Daddy eat mato too" and sometimes even "Baby eat mato too." There have been some silly ones also. Yesterday when he woke up from his nap he was a little gassy. At some point I said, "Did Carter toot?" and he said "Yes, Mama toot too." He was a little upset that I didn't cooperate. Last night we were outside enjoying some cooler temperatures and our neighbor came over. Carter started running circles around our dogwood tree, his new favorite outdoor activity. When Nelson came across the street he encouraged "Na Nas" to join him by saying "Na Nas too!" over and over again.

It is so fun to watch his vocabulary and conversation skills develop.

Our Weekend

Whew. What a weekend. Let's just say I am definitely feeling the countdown and am trying to pack in as much fun, chores, etc. as possible before this little guy decides to make his debut. At church on Sunday someone joked that babies are definitely easier to take care of when they are still inside so we are trying to take advantage of that. Oh, and my nesting instinct might have hit a new level this weekend. Poor Adam really wanted a nap on Saturday afternoon and what do I do? Suggest he make a new pot of coffee. Naps should also be a priority right now as we are very close to being sleep deprived for weeks or months. Oh well.

On Friday night we decided to start the weekend with a bit of relaxing and watched Up in the Air. It was decent. I stayed awake for the entire movie which meant it must have been better than decent. We really enjoy the On Demand movie rental from Comcast. Sure they don't have every movie that we want to see, but as often as we get to the movies or the movie rental they usually have something we want to see. And all you have to do is click a button to watch it - no driving to the store, no returning, no monthly commitment to make you feel like you have to watch so many movies to get your monies worth. Brilliant.

On Saturday morning we went to the Farmer's Market. We picked up some okra, peaches, and a couple of gifts from some local crafters. This market is really spectacular. We thought it would be tough to find a market as good as the one we could walk to in Charlottesville, but this one, although we have to drive, is pretty fantastic. At least 3 musicians playing, lots of fresh produce, meats, cheeses, breads, crafts, etc.

Carter enjoyed the music:



And the children's corn pool:



And hanging out with Daddy and checking out all the cool produce:



After the market we had a couple of errands to run but those were interrupted by a call from Lowes telling us they were on their way with our new washer/dryer. I have never been so excited to do laundry. Probably 6 loads or so this weekend. We sold our old set at our yard sale last weekend and I found a great deal on a high efficiency set at Lowes. Our old set didn't quite give me the options that I wanted for some of our loads. This new set gives me plenty of options, is larger (which is a big plus since we are about to add a whole new load to the mix every week), and it uses MUCH less water! Plus it has a wrinkle prevent setting on the dryer. Because our set is in the basement I have a tendency to forget about them because I can't hear the buzzer. This wrinkle prevention will tumble the clothes every once in a while after they are dry to minimize the wrinkles that tend to set in from just leaving them there for an extra 30 minute or hour.

After the delivery, we took lunch to some friends who just had their 4th! They have 3 precious boys and now an adorable baby girl. Their oldest 2 were hanging out with the grandparents for the day so it was just Carter and J (only a couple of months apart) and sweet MG. Carter and I got to hang out with all 4 kiddos and their mama at the Gardens on Thursday and it was a lot of fun. Carter loved playing in the sandbox with the big boys and there was lots of squeals of delight at the splash park. I can't imagine 4 - or 2 yet for that matter - but she handled everything beautifully.

Saturday afternoon was spent making curtains for the nursery, finalizing some decorating decisions, Adam and Carter got in a quick run to the park and back, and we enjoyed some playtime with our big boy.

On Sunday we made it to church and Sunday School. Had lunch at Chipotle - a Daddy favorite - Adam got some afternoon work done at the coffee shop while I attempted to put a light fixture together for the nursery and finished the curtains. We also hung some artwork. We have added lots of fun artwork to the walls lately...more on that to come later.

Here is how the fixture arrived...



And here is the finished product...



You can also get a sneak peak at the nursery curtains and a little (or rather big) something to be hung in Carter's room soon.

While I was doing more laundry and cleaning around the house Adam took Carter to a baseball game. Here he is clapping for our team...



And our latest mealtime fun - saying cheers!



So cheers to you too! Have a great week.