A fun little weekend

I promised some cute pics, and here they are! For starters, look how much this little man has grown in a year! We took this first picture about 11 months ago when we first planted this dogwood in our yard. Here's Sam at about 10 months...And here he is at almost 21 months! I think Sam is definitely growing faster than the tree...

As we head into the final couple of weeks before Caroline arrives, we're trying to spend plenty of time just having fun with Sam. He's starting to understand the whole baby sister concept. He knows his baby sister is in Mamma's belly and he knows her name is Caroline ("Caa-line"). He knows that pretty soon Mamma and Dadda will go to the hospital (hilariously cute word to hear him say...something like "op-it-el") and he will go stay with Chip and Phy at the beach. Today, I explained to him that Annie would go with him to the beach to see Chip and Phy, and he asked a very sweet question: "Sister come beach too, pleeease?" Hard to explain why she has to stay at the hospital instead!

Anyway, Sam had a great weekend. On Saturday, he had a playdate with his sweet friend Liza. They had a grand ole time playing in Sam's new big boy room with all the toys, the basketball hoop, and the golf set. On Sunday, he got all dressed up for church and even modeled willingly for the camera!

After church, we took Annie and Sam to the park for a couple hours, then came home and washed our cars. Sam was a huge help!

And then he decided it was time for "Sam. Bath. Bubbles. Bucket!"

So fun! And last but not least, here's a sweet pic of Sam and his favorite friend, Annie. Poor Annie...she's put up with a lot of pulled hair, yanked ears, and food being dropped on her head in the last 21 months, but at least she's now getting lots of love and attention in return!

Happy Monday to all, and have a great week!

Thankful

We have some new pictures to post, but those will have to wait. For now, we've just finished reading through our friends' recent posts from the last week or so, and are just struck by how blessed we all are and how much we - and so many of our dearest friends - have all grown since becoming parents.

Sweet Henry Hathaway made it through heart surgery like a little champion this week, and while we know it's such a blessing his condition was discovered early, we just can't imagine how hard the last couple of weeks have been on his mom and dad. It takes becoming a parent to know just how scary that kind of news must be and how scarring that kind of experience must feel. We breathed a huge sigh of relief this week, and now we are celebrating along with Katie and David and Henry and Cohen as Henry recovers like a trooper!

For other friends, the last few weeks have been exciting and life-altering in other ways...Brady is walking now, and the Brennans are moving back to Charlotte to start another chapter in their life with little Evan. And Frazier is cute as ever, pulling up and making sweet faces for the camera, and enjoying more time with her dad, who no longer has to commute 2 1/2 hours everyday! And so many other friends' families are growing and charting new paths everyday.

And life has been exciting and full of change for us, too. We've had a little bit of a false alarm/ scare with Caroline the last couple of weeks...the docs have been worried that she's not gaining weight, but we now know she's A-OK and should arrive healthy and happy sometime in the next four weeks! Sam is in the sweetest, happiest phase, and our hearts melt over and over again every time he does something new or especially sweet or especially surprising. It's literally like falling in love for the first time over and over again, several times a day.

I can't imagine anything more incredible, or more challenging, or scarier, or more perfect than being a parent. And today I'm feeling especially grateful for all these healthy, happy, kiddos, for amazing families and loved ones who provide support and love and prayers, and all these incredible friends to go through this amazing stage of life with.

Finally Finished!

After several weekends of house projects, we're finally all done! Sam is in his BIG big boy room with all his boats, Caroline's room is ready for her arrival, and our (much smaller) guest room is ready for Nana and Papa...or anyone else who wants to come visit!

In addition to the great room switcheroo, we've gotten (or adopted) a few new furniture pieces and new rugs in several rooms, moved lots of art around, and created lots of new storage solutions so we finally have a place to put away all those TOYS!

Yes, I had a major case of "nesting" with this pregnancy...but I knew from experience that whatever we didn't do now, we wouldn't be able to do for a couple of years!

We love the finished product(s) and are now ready to relax and enjoy our new house for a few more weeks...until a new baby turns it all upside down! :)

Nana and Papa's Visit!

Nana and Papa came to visit Sam this weekend! He had so much fun, and hasn't stopped talking about them in the day and half since they left. We had a great weekend...Sam showed Nana and Papa all his favorite things. We made several trips to various parks, played with every toy in his big boy room and play room, rode his tricycle and pulled his wagon up and down the street to the River, and even drove out to the beach for a shower for baby sister Caroline. He has grown a lot since they saw him at Christmas, and he's talking so much more, too. They were very impressed when he showed off his hilariously cute though barely recognizable versions of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and "Letters-Song" (that would be the A, B, C's - but Sam calls it "Letters-Song").

Nana and Papa got to be here for Sam's first REAL haircut (I'm pretty sure my attempt to cut his hair with crafting scissors doesn't really count). He was SO GOOD...I was really amazed...shocked, really. He was so fascinated by the whole process it never occurred to him to jump out of the seat and run all over the place!

On Saturday morning, Sam took Nana and Papa to his new favorite park, which he calls the Boat Park ("boat paaak"). Sam had a blast, but honestly we all did too :) Sam insisted that each of us take a turn with him on the slide!

Then Sam showed Nana and Papa the beach and boats!

We finished with the swings. When he was all worn out, Sam simply said, "Sam, Nana, Papa - go home. Drink milk." Guess the kid was thirsty! It was so sweet.

Later that afternoon we had a shower for Caroline at Aunt Meredith's house. It was great! Just friends and family, and plenty of folks to shower Sam with attention. It was so fun to have an excuse to get together with everyone, and Caroline received some adorable gifts! AND, the food was REALLY delicious, thanks to Chip, Phy, and Mere. We had a great time. Thanks so much to Mere for hosting!

And, finally, it's official...I'm really huge. Here's Miss Caroline at 33 weeks!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!