More Birthday Pics

Here are a few more pictures from Carter's birthday festivities - opening presents the day after his party and on his actual birthday.

He's superman suited AND cowboy booted.

Garden Transformation

From this

To this

Thanks to a little of this

And a LOT of this

First, let me clarify that the camellia bush/tree was very, very sad looking when we cut it down (I don't have a picture of just how sad it was). The snow this winter didn't treat it well. Plus, I didn't like it. So I refuse to feel guilty for cutting it down. So...there.

Donna is my gardening guru! You may remember the smaller scale garden transformation she executed when we lived in Brooklyn. She's teaching me a few of her tricks, and she pitched in a lot of labour to put in our new flower bed and bushes in front of Carter's window. she and I had fun, and the front of the house looks much better (you can actually see our front door now!)

Thank you, Donna!

And... thanks to Thomas for wielding the chain saw!

Thanksgiving

My, mom, dad and Mimi came in from Arkansas. Park, Ashley, Anna and Sam came for dinner. Cart Cart and Nonna joined us for dessert.

Family assembled at our house for thanksgiving dinner.

I got in some good snuggle time with Sam.

Carter debuted his new Christmas pajamas (along with Mama Helen's boots) after dinner.

First full Fowlkes family photo with the new addition!

Cart Cart's Birthday!

On Sunday evening, we hosted a family dinner for Cart Cart's _5th birthday. I had to smash two photos together to get everyone in the first one, so it looks a little funny! Once again, Carter required party hats. Sadly, there weren't enough hats to go around, so I didn't get to wear one! Darn. Anna probably wishes I'd stolen hers...

Birthday Family Photo

Here's a little family photo of the attendees at Carter's 3rd birthday party. Carter's face is covered in chocolate icing!

Upholstered

Given the minmal furnishings we brought with us from NYC, we really had a lot of work to do to fill our house. The family pitched in with various furnishings, including and old wing back chair from my mom and dad. Realizing that the chair's plaid didn't really work in our house, Carter and Donna gave us re-upholstering for Christmas. (Donna also provided a large amount of design assistance.) It was our first time to ever do such a home-y thing. When we picked up the chair this weekend, I just kept saying, "It looks so, professional." Which, of course, it is. I see this as a major step towards grown-up-ness.

Thanks for the chair families!

Garden Transformation

Thanks to Donna's very, very green thumb, our garden has made quite a transformation!

Here are some before and after pictures:

February


May


before Donna's magic


after Donna's magic

Cart Cart and Nonna

Carter and Donna visited us this weekend. I'll post pictures of our adventures later this week, but here are some of the best group shots of the weekend.

Christmas Eve

Last night, we got all dressed up for church.

Then we went over to Park & Ashley's house for Christmas Eve dinner. Carter stayed there while we went to church (thankfully, the 8pm service instead of the 11!). Park and Ashley were quite disappointed that Carter slept the entire time we were at church. We were quite pleased.

After church, we came home to Cart Cart and Nonna's, where Carter played in his new Christmas pajamas (a Stegall family tradition). Sure, he should have been in bed, but...it's Christmas!

Goodbye Cart Cart and Nonna!

Carter (the elder) and Donna are headed back to Atlanta in the morning. We all enjoyed their visit. Especially Carter, who enjoyed some time alone with his grandparents this afternoon while Thomas and I were at work.
 

Fauxgiving

Carter (the elder) and Donna are in town this weekend. Since we won't be seeing them at Thanksgiving, we had fauxgiving tonight. The smoked turkey was as smokey and delicious as ever, Thomas' mashed potatoes were yummy and I had brussel sprouts for the very first time (contrary to popular opinion, they were good too). And it wouldn't have been like thanksgiving without Joo, so she came over for fauxgiving, too!