A Trial Run

This past weekend while we were in Decatur, we decided to give Carter a trial run in a "big boy" bed by having him nap in one of Popsy & Gigi's twin beds. He did VERY well...sleeping for three hours!!!!
Admittedly, he and I both started the nap together {note the blanket that has been cast off}, but you've got to start somewhere, right? He did sleep for about half of his 3 hours all by himself.

The kicker is that when he woke up, he just stayed in the bed! We had to come upstairs to get him. I wonder how long that would last! ha, ha

House Hunting

I guess that because we have a new arrival due this summer, Carter has decided to consider moving into a different house. Although Nick originally constructed it for Wrigley after it sat in the garage for three years following the Christmas we ordered it for Wrigs, it appears Carter is taking to it more so than Wrigley is.

The view is good; the curb appeal is decent

Easy patio access

Noisy neighbors, though. I better tell them to quiet down.

In other news, we were able to travel back down to Decatur this weekend to celebrate with Stacey & David their upcoming wedding. It was great to get to spend time with family, visit with friends and eat yummy food!

We almost made it back to Indy with everything we traveled down there with...the exception, you ask? Nick's car keys. Apparently, when we were packing to leave, a certain little someone (who LOVES keys) took them into a closet and dropped them into a tray on the closet floor. Luckily, Popsy found them for us tonight and they'll be headed back north soon!

Showing off his skills

His gardening skills:

This was the activity at Carter's spring party. Each child got to plant grass seeds in soil in two styrofoam egg cups. Carter's are thriving! His teacher even told me last week that he is still very into playing with the soil and the grass seed that were left over from the party. She says he wants to explore it in the sensory table all the time.

His academic skills

If you turn the volume up, you should be able to hear Carter counting to 10! He is so proud of himself and spends a lot of time counting to us. It is really funny...especially when we say a number for a reason other than prompting him to count...and he just keeps going. He is also getting pretty good at singing the ABC song. I am not sure he really knows what they are yet, but he likes to sing and dance to the song!

Is it summer yet?

We only wish, but we'll take what we can get! We had a BEAUTIFUL day yesterday, with temperatures almost into the 70s! Other than a trip to the grocery store and Carter's nap (which I still spent outside), we spent ALL DAY outside. All he wanted to do was go "out-side." In fact, at one point when I realized that my pathetically white arm was a little red, I even dragged him inside for sunscreen and a hat. I guess that is what 5 months of hibernation will do to you.

While we were enjoying all the sunshine, Carter asked for a snack. However, when I tried to get him to come inside to eat it, he threw a fit. So, I figured it wouldn't hurt anything to take the snack outside. I wanted to have a little cheese and cracker picnic on our freshly mowed grass, but figured that, if we did that, Wrigley would have a snack before Carter could. As a result, Carter ended up snacking at the patio table. {Make no mistake, Wrigley still tried to claim some of it for her own...so I had to put her inside until Carter could finish!}

I thought the little fella looked too cute to resist taking a few pictures and sharing them!

Chipmunk cheeks

Really, Mom? I am trying to eat here.

Ok, fine.

This was when I asked him to smile! He always squints his eyes.

We fully intend to take advantage of the continued warm weather today when Carter wakes up from his nap. It is supposed to rain tomorrow and bring in some more cold weather before it warms up again at the end of next week.

Happy Easter!

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." Luke 24: 5-6

We have had a wonderful Easter Sunday! We started our day with Carter uncovering the basket that the Easter Bunny had loaded up for him. {He wasn't very excited about coming downstairs until we assured him that the Easter Bunny wasn't still here!}

We then quickly got ready and headed out to early church. Sorry that there are no pictures from this morning, but it was rather cool and we were all bundled up. Plus, there aren't really good blooms for photo ops.

After church, we came home and made a yummy late breakfast before Carter crashed. Nick spent the afternoon watching on TV the excitement in Augusta, and I cooked a little more!

I am thankful that Carter isn't really old enough to have to fight about eating candy all day. He got two pieces today and seemed more than content! I think his favorite thing, though, was the play-doh egg...we had specs of green play-doh all over the place!

Carter's Easter Basket: the EB brought new sippy cups, crayons, play-doh eggs, a swim suit, m&ms, mini cad.bury creme eggs, whoppers & her.shey's kisses

Carter checking everything out: the boy loves the mini cad.bury eggs...that's what he is holding

Hmm...a sippy cup...{it went right back in the basket!}

Reading his Easter card from Bamma and Big Pat

Easter Egg Hunt

Carter and I went to Highland this morning with Deanna and Connor for breakfast and an Easter Egg hunt. Carter and Connor did really well for their age! They weren't big fans of the Easter Bunny. In fact, Carter kept saying "Bye-Bye Bunny" when he saw the bunny, and when the Easter Bunny was gone, he would say, "Bunny?" {as in, where did he go?} Neither one of them wanted to get very close.

As far as the actual Easter Egg Hunt {which was really just candy and no eggs}, the two of them managed to hold their own and capture some goodies! It was a fun morning and great to spend time with D and Connor!

Ready to load up in the car to go to the Easter Egg Hunt

Playing with my balloon animal and waiting for breakfast
Watching the magic show before the egg hunt

Finally! Hunting--and finding--candy!

This one is hidden pretty well, Mom, but I got it!

Putting it in my basket

with Deanna and Connor

The Loot!

We are looking forward to celebrating Easter tomorrow!

This and that

We have had quite a bit going on lately, and unfortunately, I haven't taken very many pictures to document it all. On Thursday, Carter's class had their spring party. We planted grass seed in egg carton cups to take home and watch grow. Then, we got to eat cupcakes and have lemonade! One of his teachers just got married, so in addition to the party for the kiddos, we had a shower for her. It was a lot of fun.

When they were putting out the cupcakes for the children to eat, they also poured drinks for them into {gasp!} cups without sippy lids! As I asked Carter if he could drink from that, one of his teachers said, "oh, yea, have we not told you that he is drinking without a lid, now?" {a requirement for moving to the next room} I watched him drink his lemonade from a cup without a lid and was shocked at how expert he was! ha! He asked for more and, of course, spilled that all down the front of his shirt! Baby steps, I guess. I can't believe he is getting so big, so fast!

When we got home after the party, Nick was already home. It is so cute when Nick beats us home in the afternoon. We pull into the driveway and when Carter sees his car, he says "Daddy's car!" and "Out, please!" so he can go see him!

Once we got inside, I looked up from sorting through the mail at the counter and saw this:

My boys watching the Masters. How cute is that?

Visiting Family

This past weekend, the Willis family made a whirlwind trip to Alabama...gettng in on Thursday night and leaving to come back to Indy on late Sunday afternoon! It seems like maybe we are gettng a little better at these quick trips, as we managed to pack quite a bit into 3 days! On Friday morning, Nick left to go golfing with some high school buddies for the weekend, so Carter and I went over to the Murphrees to meet the newest cousin, Baby Owen.

Carter wasn't really sure about Owen when first got there, but as you can tell from the pictures, he warmed up to him quite nicely. By the end of the visit, he was leaning over to give him kisses and bouncing the bouncy seat saying, "rock, rock!" Owen was a sweet little guy and managed to stay awake most of our visit, so we were excited that we got to love on him! We can't wait to see him, and his brother and sister again in a few weeks!

Without giving you a detailed account of all of our happenings on the trip here are a few highlights {and one lowlight}:

seeing Popsy & Gigi on Thursday night

meeting Baby Owen

visiting with Debbie at The Lighthouse

playing outside in warm weather

falling down and gashing his head/hairline while chasing a ball {the lowlight}

playing with Bamma, Big Pat, and Uncle Steve {who came over from Altanta to visit with us}

licking the beaters from Bamma's lime cake...yum, yum

speaking of yum, yum; Bamma's yummy meals

playing with Bamma & Big Pat's cat and the dog

visiting with Aunt B and Uncle Ken on Saturday night

playing with Banks and Mary Reese on Sunday

Debbie's delightful dinner on Sunday afternoon

I am sure that I am missing something in this list, but it was a busy weekend, so it would be difficult to capture everything. We were so happy that we got to see and visit with family. We certainly wish that we were closer and able to play with our sweet familiy more frequently. We look forward to seeing y'all again soon.

{I have no idea how I managed to NOT get a picture of Carter and Bamma all weekend...my apologies...I'll have to work on that!}