It's a boy!

We found out that our sweet baby #2 is a boy!  We've chosen to name him Micah.  To announce, we had some Christmas card photos taken by a friend.  Our Christmas picture days are always notoriously freezing cold, and this day was no exception of course! That being said, we got very few smiles from Carter.  I think (hope) he'll be more excited about getting a little brother when the time comes...

We also got some pictures of our Micah. I know I'm biased but I just melted when I saw that little arm tucked in under his face.  It was an early ultrasound because of some issues I was having and although it was a little bit of a scary situation, everything ended up being okay and seeing Micah totally made up for all the stressfulness of the unknown.  When I saw that image on the ultrasound, one verse immediately came to mind.

For you created me in my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb. 

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made:

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well. 

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place,

when I was woven together in the depths 

of the earth. 

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written 

in your book

before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:13-16

Growing in Love

Our family is growing in love! Sweet baby #2 is due May 27th.  We announced with some photos of Carter.  Here are the outtakes and a picture of our littlest sweet baby!

We can't wait to meet you little one!

Two.

Carter recently turned two! Its been over 6 months since I last posted here and realizing how much he's changed in that amount of time is overwhelming.  I am not very good at keeping up with this blog thing... but this was a milestone that I felt like I should take time out to remember.

Carter loves being outside. He REALLY loves being outside. Even during the colder months, he asks to go outside.  If I had a nickel for every time I saw him standing at the back door, asking "side?".  So for his birthday, even though it was hot, we decided to do an outdoor party.  We had a few friends and sweet family over to help celebrate.  And because our little guy loves being outside so much, his party had a little bit of woodland/outdoorsy theme.  I didn't let myself get as carried away with the theme as I did for his first birthday party... Even though it was hard, I showed restraint (believe it or not).  We had a cookout with homemade ice cream and cupcakes for dessert.  It was too hot for the s'mores but we sent the fixings home with friends to make themselves.  A few of my favorite moments:

 Carter and his Grandpa. 

Uncle Alex.

Carter's great Grandma and baby cousin, Campbell. 

My guys. 

My sister, Jenny, and Carter both have July birthdays. 

We sang Happy Birthday to Aunt Jenny too!

Grandma and baby Campbell. 

Carter's Papa, and a little friend from church. 

It was a great day and lots of sweet memories were made.  

Our big two year old is learning more and more words as each day goes by.  For the first time recently, he's putting two words together to say short phrases.  His favorite two word phrase is "big truck". He loves his Dada's big truck and asks to sit in it in the garage, press buttons, and blow the horn (sorry neighbors).  He is understanding more of what we say, which is really great for everyone, including the dog, as he's understanding that she doesn't like her tail pulled.  He is also getting clever when it comes to nap time and bedtime.  He doesn't want to go to sleep, naturally, so he tries to distract us by doing something adorable, i.e. asking for kisses or big hugs over and over.  We've started to let him get his wiggles out by jumping or wallowing on our bed first before taking him in his room to read a book and go to bed.  He loves being in our bed.  Especially when there is a mountain of unfolded laundry on it that he can roll around in or hide under.  

I loved Carter the baby so much and at the first realization that he was no longer a baby, all I felt were pangs of sadness.  Now we are getting to know Carter, the little boy, and that helps with the sadness.  He is so awesome, hilarious, sweet and clever.  He brightens up my day, everyday.  Here's to looking forward to what the next year holds... all the memories we will make and the new things we will learn about our Carter boy. 

Meeting Campbell

Over the holidays, we awaited the arrival of our nephew, Campbell, whose due date was Dec. 31st.  Campbell decided to greet the world a day early on December 30th.  Mitch and I were out running errands when we got the news that my sister, Jenny, was in labor.  I was overcome with excitement but also worry, remembering how painful and scary childbirth can be.  At one point, I felt the need for us to just stop and pray for my sister and her baby.  Mitch and I sat in the car in a store parking lot and prayed that labor would end soon for my sister with a healthy baby and mother.  Five minutes later, as we were driving home, my dad, who was standing outside my sister's delivery room at the time, said he could hear a baby crying.

Campbell is a handsome, little brunette guy with the sweetest little smile and dimples on both cheeks.  His little dimples show up when he smiles and when he cries.  I don't remember Carter smiling until he was at least a couple weeks old but little Campbell was smirking and smiling in hospital! Mitch, Carter, and I headed down to Augusta the day after he was born and got there the afternoon of New Years Eve.  Carter was not totally sure what to think at first and was sort of cautious around the baby in the beginning.  We got him to come closer to to Campbell and explained to him that Campbell was his cousin.  He is still too little to really hold a baby, but he did get curious enough to touch Campbell's sweet peach fuzz hair.

On New Years Day my mom and I cooked up a big meal at my sisters house for them to come home to and I know Jenny and her husband John were glad to have their little family at home.  Campbell slept through the meal. :) 

The next day, Jenny and John took Campbell to his first doctor's appointment and while they were out, the rest of us took a walk down by the Savannah river that runs alongside downtown Augusta.  It was an overcast day but it was still so peaceful and beautiful. 

It was a special little trip meeting Campbell and we can't wait to see his sweet face again!