Zoo Atlanta

This is probably one of my last posts until Baby Avery comes this Thursday!

In light of thinking of many "lasts" until the baby comes, we thought we'd take a field trip this "last" weekend and do a "last" family outing, just the three of us. We went to Zoo Atlanta on Sunday morning (in between rain storms) with the Almstedts and Sagers. The kids had so much fun seeing all of the animals that they have read about, talked about, and imitated for months now. There were elephants, lions, tigers, rhinos, and pandas! We eventually got rained out and went home, but all in all, it was a great field trip.

Oh my gosh, I can't believe how huge I am in this picture......I'm surprised the flamingoes weren't afraid!

Here's Harrison watching the elephant and doing his imitation!

Lauren calls them "emitents", she is so funny and such a conversationalist already!

Harrison and Anna watching the rhinos. She had just as good of a time splashing in puddles in between exhibits!

It was impossible to get a good picture of all three kids, they were all always on the move! This was the best I could do.

Here are all three daddies with their kids, watching the gorillas.

Another animal I need to mention.....today is Gracie's 9th birthday! Happy Birthday sweet Gracie girl! Here's a picture of her and Vegas napping very soon after we adopted her three years ago.

Happy Birthday Dad and Jason!

It was a busy birthday weekend - Dad Carter and Jason share the same birthday (April 19th) so we celebrated that night with our 4th Annual Benihana Birthday Bash! Earlier in the weekend, Jason and I went to the 755 Club at Turner Field on Friday night to watch the Braves crush the Dodgers. Will and Megan did a great job babysitting Harrison, and it was nice to be out just the two of us for once. And it's probably the last time for a long time! On Saturday afternoon we attended Sara Almstedt's fundraiser for her 60 mile breast cancer walk - "Bowling for Boobies"! It was a Wii party, and everyone contributed money to enter a Wii bowling contest. Jason made the Final Four and ended up in third place overall, woo hoo! Good luck to Sara with raising the rest of her funds, and with the walk itself!

On to Benihana's.......here's the Carter family starting off the evening with a few cocktails. Caitlin and I even imbibed some virgin mango daquiris.

The chef made a very smoky volcano which earned applause from everyone, including Harrison!

Dad and Jason got some VERY special birthday hats!

One of which ended up on you-know-who's head! He paraded around the restaurant in it, everyone was cracking up. He always has to be the center of attention!

Back at the house we had some very yummy birthday cake for the birthday boys.

Caitlin stayed the night with us, here she is reading to Harrison about his favorite subject, trucks.

Watching Elmo with Nana and Papa before night-night time! Note the glazed over expression.....apparently this is what happens when your kid is hooked on Elmo.

We can't forget one MORE birthday boy - Vegas turned 5 years old on Sunday the 20th! Here he is doing some relaxing on his birthday in one of his favorite spots, on the deck in the sun. Gracie joined him to keep him company.

Spring and Babies are (almost) Here!

As spring arrives, we've been having more and more fun outdoors, enjoying the warmer weather which has been great. We've also been having fun getting ready for Baby Avery to be here, she's scheduled to come on May 1st at 10:00 AM! We can't believe it's only a little over 2 weeks away.

Here is Harrison "helping" Jason mow the lawn. It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen, he followed Jason up and down, up and down the yard with his little wagon!



We love our dogwood and are enjoying its pretty blooms!



I finally bought a double stroller the other day and Harrison had the best time "driving" it around the house........






Harrison's new school had a "Spring Fling" this past Sunday, so we went and enjoyed "choo choo" rides, watching the pony rides (the line was pretty long, so we just watched the horses - or "neighs" as he calls them!), playing on the playground and checking out his new classroom. He starts in early June, so we are excited! His friend Henry will also be starting there at the same time, and we had Henry, Chris and Lindsey over for dinner after the Spring Fling. The adults watched the Masters, and the boys played and read books!

Baby Showers!

It was a week full of fun and gifts for me and our sweet baby girl. On Thursday, my fellow co-workers threw me a little "cake break" where I received many items of sweet, precious clothing for the baby! It is amazing how cute everything is for little girls, I've really enjoyed experiencing something new this time around.

On Saturday, my girlfriends took me out to lunch at Mimi's Cafe and gave me even more sweet, precious things for the baby. We had such a good time just chatting and relaxing together. Three of them already have little girls, so they will be my mentors! Afterwards, we went and got pedicures which was heavenly. I am so thankful to all of them for taking the time that afternoon to celebrate with me, it meant so much. Especially to Erin, who flew from Jacksonville, FL that day to attend!

Group photo! Kathleen, Christine, Sara, me, Jodi and Erin



A onesie with Avery's name on it!



I just can't stand how cute all of these clothes are! I am going to be changing her outfit 5 times a day and dressing her up like she's a little doll!

Spring Break with Poppy and Car Car

We didn't go anywhere for Spring Break this year, but Poppy and Car Car Eschen came here for a few days for theirs! We had a good time doing some shopping, running errands, going out to eat, and just hanging around the house.

Harrison climbing all over Poppy.



Building Lego towers with Car Car (or as he now says, Dar Dar!).




We went out to dinner at Dante's Down the Hatch and had fondue on Thursday night to celebrate Will and Megan's engagement.



Harrison flirted shamlessly with one of the waitresses there, her name was Laura. He even smacked her on the behind one time! SO embarrassing. Here he is all excited, she had just walked by and smiled and said hi to him!



The happy, engaged couple. My brother is SUCH a dork sometimes, sorry Megan. :)



This married couple remembered that they got engaged on April Fool's Day 34 years ago!



Weighing himself downstairs at the restaurant. He's wearing new "choo choo" shoes that Car Car got him! When he says "choo choo shoes" it sounds like "shoo shoo shoos".

A Fun Friend-Filled Weekend

Jason had his annual Fantasy Baseball draft this past weekend, so we were able to visit with lots of friends - old and new! On Saturday, Harrison and I went to Barnes & Noble story time with Christine and Lauren. Apparently it was "princess day", so there were about 20 little girls all dressed up in their gowns and tiaras and........Harrison. He was a lucky prince! The kids loved playing with all the books afterwards, Harrison found a good "choo choo" book. His new favorite obsession is school buses, so we also found a book about those.

After Barnes & Noble we went out to lunch and Lauren treated us to a cute little happy dance! I tried to get Harrison to dance for the camera too, but no such luck. She was so funny and adorable!

Harrison's new friend is Tom Murphy, who came to stay with us for the draft weekend. He LOVED Murph, and could say his name real well. It was constant, "Murph! Murph!", and wanting him to play or wrestle. They were definitely best buds all weekend! Murph taught him how to do "knuck knucks" (hitting your knuckles with someone else's) so now he's a cool guy. Murph is so great with him, he has two little ones of his own so he has lots of experience!

Then on Sunday night we went to have dinner at Harrison's friend Henry's house. Henry is a very old friend of his, they have been at the same school together since they were three months old. We just found out that they will also be attending the same preschool together starting this summer, so we are thrilled! Henry and his parents are wonderful and we have so much fun with them.

Uh oh - someone dropped something!