Party of Five

In the eight months since I last blogged, we became a family of five! Our precious Alexandra Jane arrived on May 22 (her due date) and she is absolutely perfect. We call her our little lady or just "lady" because she is exactly that.. Poised, delicate, and by far the best baby I've had! People constantly comment on how alert she is, her long "lady fingers", and her big, beautiful bows. Her eyes are piercing and give off the sense that, although is she is only 2 months old, she knows exactly what you are saying.

When we named her Alexandra we weren't sure if we'd called her Alexandra or Allie or Allie Jane. So far it seems that she is totally an Alexandra. Something about that name is just sophisticated, regal (I mean it WAS the #1 prediction for the royal baby had he been a girl!), and oh so lovely. 

She is a total mommy's girl, although she gives daddy big smiles every morning and has an especially close bond with Carter. Cooper's interest in his sister is increasing, but I think most of his lovingness toward her is just mimicking Carter's behavior. Better than nothing though, right? She also love, love, loves her Auntie Ash- another true lady at heart.

We are so thankful for our unexpected gift from God, Alexandra Jane!

Photo by Amelia Hambrook Photography

Two Years Later...

Two years ago today, we brought our sweet baby boy home from the hospital. I cannot express the ways that he has changed my life. He is the greatest blessing I've ever received and was SO worth waiting for!

Here he is just a few hours after he was born...

The cutest newborn I've ever seen :)

And here he is at his birthday party this past Saturday...

I'll be back soon with details about his party!

Hi, My Name is April...

and I'm a terrible blogger.

I seriously have the best intentions, but somehow the days go by and other things become a greater priority. Forgive me.

Here's a look at what we've been up to over the past month or so. The highlights include: a visit to Gentry's farm, a trip to Orlando (just my mom, Carter, and I), my mom's 50th birthday party, the start of a new job for Jeremy and a terrible stomach bug for poor little Carter (no pictures included!)

Whew. I'm tired just thinking about the past several weeks. And there's no break in sight with Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner! Not to mention, the little man will be 2 in just a few short weeks! More on that later...

Things I Love About...

My Husband

His patience with me

His unwavering love and support

He know how to make me laugh and how to cheer me up

His fierce loyalty for those he loves

The fact that he would put our lives (Carter's/mine) before his own

He challenges me

He takes his marriage vows seriously

How he is opposite from me in SO many ways,

But not in the things that count

He desires to be a Godly man/husband

He thinks I'm pretty much the most amazing girl ever ;)

(Hey, who doesn't want their husband to think this?!)

My Son

His zest for life

His curiosity

His sweet, tender side that he saves for his Mama

That he still gets the hiccups when he laughs really hard

(He had the hiccups nearly everyday during my 3rd trimester!)

His love for music and books

His desire to help with anything I'm doing

His love for animals

He's fearless when it comes to try new things or new food

A Little of This, A Little of That

Wow, it's been forever since I posted! Somehow the summer has a way of making the time go by so much faster. A few nights ago, I found myself looking at our old blog {jeremyandapril.blogspot.com} and was fascinated by some of the things I had written, especially while I was pregnant, that I don't even remember! I instantly regretted not writing down more of my pregnancy experiences, but even more so- I regretted not keeping better track of Carter's first year. I don't usually blog about our day-to-day experiences because I don't think they are interesting enough or that anyone really cares if we went to Sonic or Publix or the library. Taking a glimpse back has given me a fresh perspective on blogging. Maybe I DO need to be recording the little things that happen here and there because inevitably my memory is going to fail me at some point.

I say all that to say that maybe you'll be seeing more of me on here. And maybe you'll be getting a few too many details about our life, but maybe I need to be doing this for me... and for our little family. So that one day we can remember the little moments that are going by oh so quickly.

Soooo... here's a little of what we've been up to lately:

• Jeremy's sister, her husband, and three girls came for a visit last week. It had been WAY too long since we'd seen them, and it was good to catch up! We did a lot of good eating... Carrabba's, Dunkin Donuts, Sweet CeCe's...mmm... and even made it to the Williamson County Fair for a few hours!

Carter and Nina in the car

Carter and I eating an ice cream sandwich

Carterman drinking a Sprite and watching fireworks (his favorite!)

• 
  Carter and Jenna trying out a BIG John Deere tractor
• Jeremy made a short trip to DC at the beginning of the month, so Carter and I had a little sleep over at my parents' house. There will be many more of these to come this fall! Funniest story from that weekend: My mom and I were talking in the family room, while Carter was playing in the kitchen. At one point, he came in and was chewing something and going, "MMMMM" very loudly and trying to get my attention. He clearly wanted me to know that he was eating something good. I paused for a moment, wondering if I had given him something to eat, then realized that I hadn't... uh oh. I went in the kitchen to discover that he had opened my mom's pantry, found a bag of chocolate chips, somehow opened them, and was helping himself to handfuls at a time!!! What can you do but laugh?! And boy did we!! He was so proud of himself and enjoying the "chocolate chippies" very much :) I have this all on video ... if only I could figure out how to upload it!
• We have made friends with some new neighbors down the street that have two little boys around Carter's age. We see them regularly on our nightly walks and have already had a playdate and taken a trip to the library together. So much fun!

Love Her

This little lady is my youngest sister. I spent yesterday celebrating her birthday.. the big 2-0! We hit up two Nashville hot spots {Noshville & Loveless}, did some shopping, and finished the night with Gigi's Cupcakes and the Wii. She is wonderfully unique, creative, compassionate, and funny... and I just love her to death! I can't imagine my life without her in it and I am honored to call her my sis.

Will You Pray For Him?

This handsome dude is my brother, Nathan.

He's in Haiti for the next several days and could really use your prayers. He wasn't sure what to expect upon arrival and has no agenda for his time there other than to help those in need.

Thanks in advance for your prayers.

*Photo by Michele Gorden