Photo session

We took Carter last Sat. to get some studio pics taken first of all b/c he's never had them done like that before & second to avoid getting outside in this blazing heat to take outdoor ones! I dropped the ball on getting his 12 mo. professional pics taken, so I figured 15 mo. could still be a notable age. I think they turned out pretty well & we got a ton of copies & a disc of all the ones they took. The disc only has the original ones she took & not the edited versions unfortunately, so keep in mind these haven't been edited.

Some of my favs...

C was running around like a mad man most of the session so getting any of these shots was very tricky & took lots of props/distractions. So we ended up with many pics like these...

Hear no evil...

...speak no evil.

Day trip

Carter & I took a little road trip to ATL yesterday to visit one of my best friends Amy & her sweet new baby boy Blake. Addy drove in from Nashville as well so it was a fun little get together for all 3 of us! We all took a dip in the pool for a bit until a big thunderstorm came thru. It was a quick trip but we had a great time. Addy is expecting another boy in Dec. too...boys boys everywhere!!

C trying on Amy's shades.

Blake...7 weeks old

He's a good mix of his mommy & daddy.

Princess Leia

This is my nickname for little miss Coco when she looks like this...

...which happens all the time!

Does anyone else have as lazy a dog as we do?!?! Most times she is eating, she is sprawled out on the floor!

Girly time

Well I'll be the first to admit that I am feeling a bit lazy tired tonight so since I already had this post loaded & ready to go...here it is finally. I basically played the "single mom" card this w/e since the hubs was laid up in the bed/on the couch all w/e with this crazy fever/chills thing. I also took Carter to my moms today with my bro to work on her backyard which needed major pruning/cutting back of bushes & it was HOT so I'm drained. It was a good w/e though...mommy had lots of spoiling time with my little man! He did poop behind his chair tonight after bath time w/o a diaper. Awesome.

So the post...these are way old...ok maybe only by a few mos. but still. I finally got around to putting them up here...I'd rather show off my child than me. :)

Amy's baby shower...a bunch of my wonderful Alpha Chi sisters!!

Partial drunco bunco group...not enough ppl could come play so we decided to go eat at Superior Grill instead...ended up being a really late night but SO much fun!!

One flew over...Carter's crib?!

Funny story. Justin called me yesterday morning...I was in Tampa for work...to fill me in on Carter's latest accomplishment. J said he heard C start to stir so he got up to feed the dogs & all of sudden he heard a big thud come from upstairs. He waited a second to see if he heard a cry since it was def. loud enough to be Carter tumbling out of his crib, but he didn't hear a peep. So he started up the stairs to check on him & as he's getting to the top he sees Carter's door slowly start to open...there he is just peering around the door in his sleepslack & all ready to start his day. Guess he wasn't patient enough for J to come get him so he decided to climb out all by himself & I guess waddle his way over to the door. Now granted his bed wasn't at the lowest level it could be (it is now) but I had already taken out the front bumper so he wouldn't stand on it & try to get out & I really didn't think he could've "escaped"...he never ceases to amaze me. :) Well at least he didn't get hurt during this whole extravaganza...I still wonder how he slung a leg over with that sleepsack on or if he just went head first...he is fearless!

In other news...

I flew down to Tampa Th. night for work & went to stay with my cousin Clara & her husband Eli & daughter Hasmik (it is Armenian & means Jasmine). She is only a month & 1/2 older than Carter so I would've loved for them to meet but I was just excited to finally meet her myself! My aunt came over as well so we had a fun little family get together. She is absolutely precious & warmed right up to me instantly...she only weighs 19 lbs so I was happy to hold her...I felt like I could just toss her around compared to my little chunker. She is very tall & can even sing the happy b'day song...it is only under her breath & when she thinks noone else is listening but it's the cutest thing ever!

These are everywhere in their neighborhood...I only came in & out once & still managed to see 4 of them & 2 of those were bambi's.


Lastly...

J has come down with some sort of fever virus (we think) today & Carter is starting to get pink eye in both of his eyes...it is supposedly going around school & is of course highly contagious! Hopefully we don't all come down with it! We did get to go take some studio pictures today of C & all of us that I had already scheduled for this morning...those pics to come!!

A day of parks

Saturday we took Carter down to our neighborhood park early on in the day to avoid the heat & just to get out of the house. He loved the slide & climbing on everything as best he could. Please excuse the sort of fuzzy video clip (I don't put videos on here enough to remember everytime how to save the best quality video w/o making it a gigantic file), my attire & cheering/mommy talk... 

Once Carter got bored of that we decided to do a little driving around. I mentioned how we should go to Georgetown Park & feed the ducks & before I knew it we were at Bruno's grabbing some bread & headed that way. For those that don't know where this little hidden gem is (which is probably all of you) it is a little lake with a walking trail & a playground right off of Lorna Road back in a neighborhood...you'd never know it was there if you didn't drive back there. We had a great time & I think C really liked the ducks other than the one that nipped him to snag the bread out of his hand...might have been this guy...

This little duck (the prettiest of them all) couldn't get enough of us & followed us (quickly I might add - I wish I'd had my video camera out to catch his crazy waddle) about a 1/4 of the way around the lake...he must have really been hungry!

A quirky shot of C-man but you can see our little friend that had pretty blue wings.

As they all swarmed in...

There were tons of them...

Some didn't mind getting up close & personal...

Then we came across these adorable little ducklings!

And a nest with some eggs.

Next time we go I think we need to take 3 or 4 loaves of bread b/c we ran out fast & I still don't think we even fed half the ducks on the lake. We had a great time & I'm sure we'll be back soon to see if those eggs have hatched yet & check on our little friend with the pretty blue wings.

Have you ever seen a little green devil?!?

This towel is actually supposed to be a "pig" but we couldn't help but think it looked like a devil with horns & a curly tail...all he needed was the pitchfork & he would've been set!

Play time with cousins!

Last week Sara & the girls made a last minute trip up to B'ham to visit. Her bf from high school was in town from NY so they came & stayed with us for a few nights...we loved seeing them of course! This was our attempt at getting a cousin pic...never got a framer but still cute to see them all together!

I love Audrey's expression!
Audrey did such a good job posing unlike the other two!
The best one I got of all 3 "looking"...
Hadley...

...earth to Hadley?! :) (How sweet is that 8 mo. old's grin!)

And my fav of my little munchkin!

Utensils

Tonight we worked on using our spoon to eat our yogurt...

If one isn't enough, why not use two at a time...

The face of determination...

And if two doesn't work, just dip your hand in!

Christian Crunk

Our church just started a new fitness class on Tues. nights called "Christian Crunk" & I finally got a chance to go tonight & loved it!!! Jam is the woman who started it...she has taught classes before at Gold's Gym. It is a hip-hop dance class which is right up my alley. Jam actually attends Church of the Highlands & has started a small group where she has a devotional first & then leads the class. She has now brought this class to RUMC...it's free & so much fun! So if anyone wants to join me on Tues. nights @ 6:30 for an hour & 1/2 of fun & fellowship, come one, come all!

In other news...

We had a fabulous 4th of July & hope everyone else did too!! Justin & I had a last minute invitation to go down to Panama City with our friends Chris & Jennifer & stay at her parents beach house for the w/e. We debated on whether or not we should take Carter since they don't have a pool & I didn't know how much he would like sand or if the water would be oil free or not. We ended up deciding not to take him & let the grandma's spoil him all w/e...which they did...but we missed him TONS! I think I missed him more this time than I ever have before when we have gone out of town...not that I don't normally miss him b/c I do terribly, but I just thought about him constantly & wondered what all he was doing, getting into, etc. He is just too much fun these days & I hate to miss anything new he learns, says, or even his silly facial expressions...we were def. ready to get back to see him yesterday!! There were multiple times that I said "we should've brought Carter!" especially when the water was crystal clear & almost as warm as bath water...he would've loved it! Of course there were double red flags at first, then just one red flag & finally yellow the last 2 days due to a strong undertow but still. We did get to go out on their boat all day on Sat. which would've never been an option if he was there...we even swam with some dolphins! They were so awesome & just kept swimming up to our boat! If only I had my camera. :( The fireworks on Sun. night were amazing on the beach. There were just miles & miles of them going off constantly for hours & some of them were HUGE...I couldn't believe how many ppl had them & especially the really big ones. Now I understand how those little firework places stay in business & only have to be open for 3 holidays a year. We really enjoyed ourselves, got some great sun, ate some delicious seafood & got to really enjoy the ocean before it is ruined by this terrible oil catastrophe!

Oh & here are the only pics I took from our July 4th festivities...the yummy dessert Jennifer helped me whip up!