What we've been up to...

Carter combining two of his favorite sports--swimming and golf--yes, that is a golf club that he took into the water with him.

Daddy throwing Carter

With Bamma jumping off of the steps

Even Wrigs got in on the action

Jumping to Aunt Button

Taking a break for some yogurt in the sun

Airplane!

Capping off the afternoon with a popsicle

This morning we plan to head to the beach since we have spent time relaxing at the house by the pool so far. Uncle Steve (and hopefully Big Pat, too) are coming to join us today! Then, Uncle Ken and Emily will be here at the end of the week!

Goin' to the Chapel...

Last night we celebrated Stacey & David's wedding! It was a beautiful ceremony and a very fun reception.

Stacey was a beautiful bride and it was a lovely ceremony. The kiddos {six of eight of their nieces and nephews!} did a great job walking down the aisle and were precious. It was wonderful to help them celebrate the beginning of their married life together.

Waiting before the ceremony

Carter playing with Christopher before the ceremony.

Carter was a champ at the reception. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures from the reception. Since I was keeping up with a diaper bag, I decided to leave the camera in the car to reduce the number of things I had to keep tabs on. I wish I had had it, though. Carter loved the music and was a dancing fool! He also LOVED the cakes--the wedding cake and the chocolate groom's cake--and kept asking for more "special treat." I think he made his dinner on cake and two bites of chicken finger last night!

Our family after the ceremony

Now, our family has made it here to relax and unwind a little bit. It is every bit as beautiful and wonderful as we had heard... in fact, more so, actually.

More to come soon!

A Preview

Last night, we participated in the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner for this lovely couple--
Stacey & David

Practicing

We had a fun night celebrating with Stacey and David and can't wait for the festivities today!

Daddy & Carter waiting for the rehearsal to begin

Carter, Mary Reese and Banks in a rare photo--all looking at the camera!

Carter and Mary Reese entertaining themselves by coloring in the aisle during the rehearsal

Celebrating Dad

Happy Father's Day!

We had a great day today! Nick started his Father's Day off bright and early, playing golf with friends at 7:00 this morning. Carter and I were able to enjoy breakfast and some early morning pool time with Deanna and Connor before the daddies joined us.

Carter was ready to go to the big pool when Dad got there. He enjoyed swimming with Nick and playing basketball.

Connor got very brave and decided to jump off of the diving board today! After Connor's example, Nick talked Carter into trying it, and Nick dropped him off the board to Pat. He wasn't much of a fan. After Connor did it a few more times, Carter worked up the nerve to do it again. This time, I dropped him off the board to Nick and he did much better. In fact, after Nick caught him, he said "Mama jump, too." I declined.

This is a picture of Nick on his first day as a father.

It is crazy to think how much our lives have changed--in the most wonderful ways--since that time. I can't believe that it has been two years or that we are about to add another one into the mix.

Nick is such a wonderful father. He is patient and loving with Carter {and me!}, and Carter looks up to him and tries to be like him all the time. I couldn't ask for a better partner in parenthood!

Happy Father's Day to Nick, my dad, his dad, and all the daddies out there!

Stitches Out

That is what Carter kept saying this morning when we went into have his stitches removed. When the doctor walked in, the nurse said, "Well, he'll tell you why he's here." As if on cue, Carter said, "Stitches out!" Everyone there was really tickled that he was telling them why he was there.

He was great. He sat in my lap while they snipped the stitches and then pulled them out with tweezers. Incidentally, we only had to have six removed because one fell out on Sunday. The last one proved to be pretty difficult to snip, and he fussed a little, but he recovered quickly for an El.mo sticker.

Before bath with the steri-strips still on.

After bath, the steri-strips fell off

Hopefully, we are through with the drama around here for a bit. The instructions included, "limiting trauma to the area for a month." I found myself wondering if they had met my child...he gets more bruises on his head than almost anywhere else. Let's hope that we can limit the trauma!

And just for fun, I wanted to include a funny picture of Carter eating his yogurt on Sunday afternoon. He loves these glasses and they were sitting on the counter, so he felt compelled to wear them while he had his snack.

Weekend Visitors

Starting Friday night, we had a nice weekend visit with these two lovely people!

Emily & Uncle Steve came to visit!

After their flight got in on Friday night, we headed to Bazbeaux's to have some pizza. Carter was so excited to see them, and was on his best behavior at the restaurant and when we got home, even though it was WAAAY past his bedtime.

Saturday morning, Nick and Steve played golf, while Emily and I played with Carter until around lunchtime. After lunch, we headed over to the pool for a little bit. Carter isn't supposed to swim with his stitches, so he was throwing the ball with Nick and with Uncle Steve.

Carter, however, proved to be more difficult than expected to keep out of the water. He wanted to jump to Nick, and swim to get the balls in the water. Fortunately, Nick was able to keep his boo-boo above the water and dry. After a little while at the pool, we all headed home to nap/relax a little while.

We also headed to the park to play, had yummy meals and just enjoyed catching up with Emily and Steve. Carter loved them! Each morning when I would go in to get him up, he would ask for Uncle Steve and then Emily...it was so cute!

We had such a wonderful visit! We can't wait to come visit in Atlanta and check out the Aquarium! Thank you for coming to see us!

Enough, already!

I do believe that I have reached my threshold for drama {and trauma} for a while.

Carter and I made a special trip to the ER today after I got a call from school saying that he had fallen and hit his head and they thought he needed stitches. I got the call a little before 9 this morning, so I left everything except for my purse at my desk and took off to go pick him up. When I got there, they had stopped the bleeding and had Carter {with his lamb lovey and his blanket} on the changing table, and he was still crying. They showed me the gash, and I agreed that it warranted a trip to evaluate for stitches.

As I picked him up and we took off for the ER, I did ask how he had done it, and I was told that he fell into one of the tables in the room {no surprise; he loves to run and sometimes gets ahead of himself}. By the time we got out the front doors of the center, Carter had stopped crying and we were talking about getting in the car to go on a special adventure. I knew he was doing okay when he asked to listen to "This Old Man" in the car and started pointing out "big trucks" on the way.

As I was driving and frantically trying to get a hold of Nick who wouldn't answer any of the three numbers I was calling repeatedly, I was trying to figure out two things: 1. Where to take him and 2. Should I stop by our house and grab the diaper bag? {which I did--bleeding was under control and he was calm} I remembered that Allyson had blogged about taking her daughter for stitches to the Pediatric ER at the Peyton Manning Children's Hospital at St. Vincent. So, I determined to head there and sent Allyson a frantic, but cryptic e-mail to please call me about stitches. {which she did -- her help was incredibly valuable! Thanks, Allyson!}

Aside: I can't say enough good things about the ER at PMCH at St. V's. I would go back there in a heartbeat. The staff was great, and it was very well set up for children. I can't imagine how tough it would have been to have been in a typical ER for 2.5 hours. This one had toys, child-friendly movies, etc.

So, once we got there and got checked in and the Doctor checked Carter out, they put some numbing cream on the gash. We had to wait about a half hour for it to take full effect.

Watching Cars while the numbing cream works its magic

up close of the numbing cream

Then the nurse and a tech came in to clean out the gash. This was one of the two points where Carter cried. We had to hold him still while they cleaned it out with some sort of solution. I think that it was being pinned down that bothered him more than the cleaning, since the area was numb. Shortly therafter, they gave him an oral solution intended to relax him a bit {it was successful! he was pretty loopy and had really slurred speech. so pitiful!}. Then, the doctor came in and stitched him up, which was the second time he threw a fit--again, I think the pinning down was the issue, because he never flinched when they were sewing him up.

Seven Stitches
So pitiful after it was over

Enjoying a "special treat" for being so brave

We met dad at home after the ordeal, and ate lunch. Carter was still a bit loopy, and so he took a nap while I went back to work to recover the rest of my stuff. When I got back, I also crashed. I think the adrenaline rush had ended, and I was zapped. When he woke up from his nap, he was his happy, busy, usual self, and I was glad to see it! So, he'll have his seven stitches {which is, incidentally, the same number I had on my forehead} until Tuesday. I am so proud of him for being so good and so brave.

But...still...enough already.

Post Traumatic Stress Reliever

As I mentioned in the epic about my unfortunate lock-up in the guest room, yesterday Carter and I went to the Indianapolis Zoo with my friend Heather and her precious son Ben. It was a great trip, and it was very nice for me to have Heather to talk with and the boys taking in all of the animals to watch to help relieve some of the stress and anxiety that hadn't totally dissipated from my time in the guest room.

Overall, Carter did really well. The last time we went to the zoo, he really enjoyed watching the animals, but wasn't all that active. This time, he was all over the place! Sometimes, he was very excited to see the animals, and sometimes he was not such a fan.

We got to the zoo about 9:30, and most of the animals were pretty active because it was relatively cool. One of the first exhibits we saw was the monkeys, and they were making quite a bit of noise. Carter was not a fan! He started crying and crawled out of the stroller wanting to be held.

Other than the monkeys, he enjoyed most of the other animals. When I asked him after we left what his favorite animals were, this is what he told me:

He also loved the elephants, the rhinos, the lions, and the sharks. Here are a few additional pictures from our trip!

The Rhinos

Looking at the rhinosA close up of the lion

The elephants (minus the baby elephant)

Watching the elephantsCarter and Ben watching the sharksMom and Carter (having to lean back to balance Carter and the bump!)

Damsel in Distress

I have to apologize up front for the lack of pictures accompanying this post. I can, however, assure you that it is worth the read, even sans pictures {and maybe I'll throw 1 or 2 in at the end for good measure, anyway}. So, here's the story:

Nick left yesterday morning for a golf outing in Michigan with some friends, so I am here at the house alone with Carter until Sunday around lunchtime. Carter and I were super excited because we had plans to visit this zoo this morning with our friends Heather and Ben.

So, we got up early this morning very early...in fact, Carter woke up at 5:00 and never quite got solidly back to sleep...and even now is napping restlessly. Teeth, again, maybe? Hopefully? An ear infection or swimmer's ear? Who knows! , and after eating breakfast decided to start getting ready for our zoo adventure.

I typically get ready in our guest room when we don't have guests because the light is good and our bathroom is small. Unrelated to my getting ready is the fact that, unfortunately for our guests, the door knob on the inside of the door doesn't work particularly well so not particularly well that almost all of our guests have had to call us from their cell phones at some point to have us open the door from the outside. Unrelated to my getting ready, until today that is.

If you are like Nick who figures out every twist or mystery in a TV show and movie plot well in advance, then you can probably see where this is going...

While I am in the middle of drying my hair, Carter pulls the door to the guest room shut. Me on the inside, Carter on the outside. I won't even type the words I thought in that moment...to keep the blog family-friendly. He immediately began to say, "open, please" because he wanted me to open the door, and of course, I couldn't. I asked him to turn the doorknob, and, bless him, he tried, but he just didn't quite have the dexterity to do it.

So, I started to panic think. What is in this room that I can use to open the door? I tried a couple of options to sort of slide into the catch piece to release it from the wall, but to no avail. I looked for screwdrivers to try to take the door knob off the door. {Incidentally, we had phillips head ones in that room, but not the flat heads that I needed}.

No phone. No other adult in the house. Me inside the room. Carter outside the room. My husband in Michigan not to return until Sunday. I had visions of my child crying and starving. Oh, yeah, and I only had on underwear and a bra, which I remedied quickly because, thankfully, I keep my maternity clothes in that room!

I tried to keep talking to Carter, but he wouldn't talk back to me at this point. I am sure he was scared and wondering why I wouldn't open the door. I could look under the door, but couldn't see his feet, and when I called him, he didn't come right away, which, of course, made me nervous.

I felt like I was almost out of options. I started to look at climbing {or jumping, rather} out the {second story} window, when it occurred to me that my neighbors might be home and able to help. So, I opened the window and started SCREAMING their names. After about 4 times, I switched to HELP in case someone else heard me screaming. Within minutes, my neighbor Jenny and her girls were at the back gate.

I explained the situation and asked if she would check to see if the back door was unlocked. No luck. She asked if I wanted her to bring a ladder over so I could climb out and come back in the house. That wouldn't work because my key was downstairs in my purse, which I clearly couldn't get to. {Carter is still not talking to me at this point, but I can hear him talking.}

So, Ted also comes over and they bring a ladder with a variety of screwdrivers and other equipment perhaps likely to free me from my guest room lockdown. I took the door knob off, but it didn't make a difference...the mechanism that allows the door to close and catch was still engaged. Ted offered me some sort of tool to see if I could slide it in the door jam and pop the catch open. First try...a small pop, but it re-caught. Second try... IT WORKED!

And my precious child was sitting in the floor right outside the door with his ball popper and two books, just reading.

I am so thankful for God's providence and good neighbors...Jenny and Ted both work full time at the Indianapolis Star, but are on leave this week. And, within 30 minutes after they helped free me, they headed to Louisville to take their girls camping for the night. PTL that they were home. I would probably still be in that room if they had not been.

Oh, and this little turkey and I still managed to make it to the zoo with Heather and Ben...and were only 30 minutes late!

(If you are still reading this...you deserve a prize!)

So, now, the door knob is removed and the catch has a piece of tape firmly over it to prevent any similar future instances until we can fix it!