NC Adventures

For Memorial Day weekend the Carter's made a trip to New Bern NC to visit Nini and Paul Paw!  We had a great time and went on lots of adventures!  I tried to narrow down pictures to share but had trouble because we did so many fun things and my children are so stinkin' cute! 

It didn't take Emmy long to find her chair on the porch!

And it didn't take Caleb long either!

We spent one day at the beach...despite the choppy water and crazy weather, we had a nice time!

Caleb's first beach trip and first time touching the ocean!

We ate extremely well (as always) and Marshal and Lynn drove down from Raleigh to visit

We went on in Mom and Dad's new Kayak - Emmy LOVED it!

It wouldn't be a visit with Nini without a little painting!

Caleb flying

One really cool thing we did is take the kids to the place we got married!  We reinacted a few candids from our wedding album with the kids.  We also celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary while we were there!

Anyone recognize that umbrella?!

Emmy helped out by walking Annie in the neighborhood.

Caleb's favorite nap spot was on the couch with Nini - Nini didn't mind it so much either!

Emily is a great big sister, she enjoys reading to Caleb and showing him the pictures.

After Joel returned home to go back to work, I stayed with the kids and we continued our adventures by going to the Aquarium.  Emily had a great time taking it all in and Caleb was great and slept most of the time when he wasn't being forced to take cute pictures in large crabs!

We also had some down time and played in the yard, Emmy loved having control of the hose!

Caleb is growing so fast and getting very strong!

Playing in the Rain

After a beautiful spring shower, Joel and Emmy decided to go outside and play in the new puddles in front of our house.  It was a wonderful sight for me to see those two splishing and splashing!

Grandma and Grandpa meet Caleb James

Patton and Dick (Joel's mom and dad) came to MD to meet the newest Carter.  We had such a great time visiting and playing.  We spent a lot of time outside because it was so beautiful.  We also went to the National Zoo and had a picnic.  The animals were playful and fun to watch, we even heard a lion cub (teenager) roar!  Overall we had a wonderful time together.  Oh and Caleb was baptized - stayed tuned for a new post with pictures of that big event!

Up hill at the Zoo!

Looking at the Zebras

The otters were awesome (definitely my favorite) swimming and playing! 

This is how Caleb enjoyed the Zoo

Emmy does NOT like chocolate ice cream, can't you tell?

Girls Girls Girls

Ok as I typed that title I realized that might be misinterpreted.  One of my best friends in the whole world came to visit and meet Mr. Caleb with her daughter Finn Marie.  She was such a big help and it was great for Emmy to have a playmate and me to have another mommy to chat with about mommy things!  My other bestest friend, Sara, came too and we got some great pics of all us girls together.

Finn and Emmy

Finn loved, I mean LOVED baby Caleb!

Cate, Finn, Caleb, and Emmy: All the kiddos almost all smiling!

All the girls!

Easter

Easter was great (from what I remember, which is not much with a 10 day old baby!).  My parents were in town and my brother and his family came for the weekend to meet Caleb.  The girls had a great time at two Egg Hunts and Aunt Kelly helped Emmy decorate eggs. 

East

Worth the wait!!!

Caleb James Carter finally joined us on March 28th at 9:07pm. As many of you know I was very ready, overly ready to meet this little man and in the end it was well worth the wait! Labor was super quick with this little guy (especially when I compare it to my 26 hour labor with Emily). We arrived at the hospital around 6:30pm, I started pushing at 9:02pm and 5 min later we were introduced to the most beautiful little boy! Here are a few pictures of our stay at the hospital.

This picture was taken in the delivery room soon after Caleb was born.

Emily meets Caleb and holds him for the first time. She was a proud big sister!

This was a family shot before we left the hospital!

Emily found fun and interesting ways to entertain herself and us during her visits! She became a quick favorite of all the nurses.

Me and my beautiful babies!

So a few days before Caleb came we finally installed his car seat. I think this was a big realization for us that, YES we are parents of 2 children! Every time I see the 2 car seats it hits me and I still can't believe it!

Emily helped out a lot and took all of our calls at the hospital so we wouldn't have to worry. (note the "phone" is the remote to the TV)

My men all dressed up in their Tuxedo Shirts! HANDSOME!!!