Almost Home - for 6 Weeks!

I've been in NYC for work all week, and now I'm sitting at the airport, anxiously awaiting my flight home. I'm particularly excited because this is my 23rd and final flight of the spring. I don't have a trip scheduled again until JULY! (Sure, something will more than likely come up at work, but I choose to ignore that possibility for the time being.) I haven't had 6 weeks off of traveling since... since... Wow. I don't think I've had 6 weeks without travel since last spring. I can't wait to soak up some Atlanta time!

Super Carter

There are no words for the amount of cuteness that Patrick & Kirstin brought to our house this weekend, both through the gift they brought Carter and the pictures they took of him in it. Take a look (and turn the sound up):

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Birthday Party

In addition to cupcakes, Carter's birthday had...

Balloons

Hot Dogs

Horseshoes

And PRESENTS!

Cupcakes!

Everyone at Carter's birthday party pitched in to decorate cupcakes. Carter was happy to help decorate, but even more happy to eat his cupcake (without his hands).

Happy 2!!

Carter turned 2 yesterday. Mama Helen, Daddy Phil, Uncle Patrick and Aunt Kirstin have all come to town for the occasion. His party is this afternoon, so more pictures will be forthcoming, but here are some shots from yesterday, which was, sadly, a mostly rainy day.

Carter and Rosy the Bear

A boy and his tricycle

Carter really, really likes opening presents. As it turns out, he also likes being the present.

Carter gets down with his shopping cart

Birthday fruit pizza

Girl Trip!

Here are some long overdue shots from girl weekend at Mandi's. Aarti already posted some good ones here and here, so I won't duplicate.

The men in Mandi's life: Ross (who got the stamp of approval) and Sir Charlie Francis Murphy Bacon (who got a tentative stamp of approval pending how fast our scratches heal...)

There were some drinks. Red ones.

There was some train riding (and reminders of how much better the NYC subway system is!)

And, yes, there was a wee bit of dancing.

This is your hair on chapstick

Almost an entire tube, to be precise.

Waking Up is Hard

I was just sitting down to write a post about waking up when I read this one.

It usually takes Carter a while to wake up in the mornings. We hear him talking, sometimes for quite a while, before he is actually ready to get up. So, we typically wait until we know he's out of bed (playing with toys, rattling the baby gate or standing in the living room having burst out of the baby gate) before we go get him.

Some mornings, we have to get him up before he's completely ready, and today was one of those days. I knew he was awake because I'd heard him talking on the monitor, but when I went in his room, he was still in bed. As soon as he saw me, he clutched his pillow to his head, rolled onto his stomach and pitifully moaned "Noooooooo!".

I told him, "I know how you feel, kid". The poor little guy gets not-a-morning-person genes from both of his parents!

Tree Climber

One of the trees in our front yard is perfect for toddler's-first-tree-climbing.

Kabobs

A few weeks ago, we had a cookout at our friend Matthew's house. Carter had a lot of fun chasing his dogs, discovering sharp objects (people without kids don't necessarily think to put their hand saws away : ) and running in circles through the house.

Another of the highlights was helping make the kabobs (a low point was when he touched a skewer hot-off-the-grill, but he recovered quickly). Carter enjoyed stacking all the food on the skewer, but he didn't quite understand that he had to wait for the food to be cooked. He kept trying to eat the food straight off the skewer, right after putting it on!

Girl Trip Preview

For Mother's Day, I'm getting to spend the weekend in Chicago with my girlfriends while Carter and Thomas have a boys weekend at home (thanks, Thomas!). More on my trip when I get home to download my pics, but here's one that Mandi's man Ross took of the four of us.


And here's one that I took of all FIVE of us using my monkey arms!

Shorts Season

As in Houston, shorts-weather is upon us here in Atlanta (most days). Here, Carter shows off approximately one day's worth of scrapes. Those poor legs! It's sure to be a scab-rific summer.

And, yes, he is attempting to eat his firetruck for breakfast. The kid will seriously eat anything.

Name That Fruit

Well, vegetables and fruit and special bonus items this week! (and extra credit if you can identify the source of "Name That Fruit")

First, the vegetables (and one fruit)...

My guesses are (from left):Kale, Strawberries, Peas, Small Beets or Large Radishes, Red Scallions, White Scallions, (Blue Scallions?), Misc. Lettuce (top), Different Misc Lettuce (bottom), Large Beet, Garnish Type Green Leafy stuff.

Next, our tiny little rental car for the next two weeks while ours gets fixed from the sideswipe a couple of weeks ago...

If you can name that car, you know more about (sub) compacts than is probably advisable...

Finally, just for Helen...

No more vegetables, just dinner cuteness!

Help, Please!

I have continued the grand adventure in running - thanks, in large part, to Amy's suggestion about the Couch to 5K program. Having a very specific workout has helped immensely. And I'm happy to say that the running is going very well (though I still think running more miles than you can count on one hand is just crazy).

However. It has recently come to my attention that I'm doing something somewhat unorthodox. You see, when I mention running in casual conversation, it usually goes something like this: "When I was running the other day, I was listening to my NPR podcast, and I heard that..." [fits of laughter from whoever I'm talking to]. Apparently, listening to NPR while running isn't normal.

While I do LOVE my NPR podcasts (I never drive, so how else will I get my NPR fix??), and don't intend to give them up, I understand that music might also be a good running motivator. I particularly came to understand the power of music when I was in Arkansas for Easter, and I had the pleasure of taking a spin class that my dad teaches. He uses GOOD music, and it definitely gets you going.

So, I need your help to compile a really, really good playlist for running. I need upbeat, peppy tracks, people. Please help! I'm seriously musically challenged.

Girls' Night

The men went to a Braves game last night, and Ashely and I stayed home for girls' night - complete with wine, conversation and Pride & Prejudice. Pure girly heaven.

We also each took a turn entertaining both kids. Here's what was going on while I cooked dinner:

More Shoes

Carter immediately went after Aunt Ashley's shiny red shoes!

Big Shoes

My mom is tired of pictures of vegetables, so here are a few pics of Carter's latest obsession: big shoes. These were taken over the last month or so, and there were oh-so-many more moments of cuteness for which we didn't have the camera ready. One such moment looks pretty much exactly like this (seriously, Rachel and I have nearly identical shoes). And then there were the enormous yellow flip flops. I tried to teach Carter how to wear them properly, but he does not like having stuff between his toes.