Abby Grace's 3rd Birthday Party

Abby Grace's 3rd Birthday Party was held at the Oak Mountain Petting Farm, and we really had a great time! The weather was absolutely beautiful, and Abby Grace was very excited about playing with all the animals. We are thankful for all of our family and friends that were able to celebrate with us. Mrs. Anna, Abby Grace's MDO teacher, was also able to come, which thrilled Abby Grace, and she also made the beautiful barn cake and cupcakes. And yes, the cake was as good as it looks! We just were just so excited about how cute it was! Anyway, we had a wonderful time!

This was one of those rare moments, where Abby Grace just came up to me at the party out of the blue and gave me a big hug, and somehow, my brother-in-law, J., got it on camera! Anyway, I just love it!

Memorial Day Weekend

On Memorial Day Weekend, I headed to the lake with the kids while Brian worked his last full night of call as a resident. Then he joined us on Sunday. These are just some pics from our little trip....

The weather wasn't that great; it rained, and then when it wasn't raining, it was kind of chilly. However, that didn't stop Abby Grace from getting in the water! She is having a great time in the picture below but hiding the fact that she is actually freezing! Somehow, though, she managed to get her daddy in the water with her!

Caleb had fun at the lake too! He had just starting sitting alone that week; this has opened a whole new world of playing for him!

Abby Grace's birthday actually fell on Memorial Day this year. So we had a Mermaid cake for her, and she was thrilled! She opened up her presents from us and the grandparents; some of the highlights included a Thomas tent, trains, Mermaid bubbles, books, puzzles, basketball goal, etc. It's find of funny, but Abby Grace LOVES Thomas the Tank Engine! Anyway, she enjoyed all of her presents. Shhhhhh! Don't tell, but Abby Grace is going to get a swing set for her main birthday present, but she's not getting it until we move to Charleston. Abby Grace will also get to celebrate her birthday one more time at the Oak Mountain Petting Farm; I'll post pictures of this soon. Anyway, it's hard for us to believe that our little girl is already three!

First and Last Times

Caleb finally slept through the entire night for the FIRST time! He actually slept from about 9 to 6:45 this morning! Yeah Caleb and yeah sleep! Also, today is Brian's LAST overnight call as a resident--we can't tell you how excited we are about that!!!

Braves Game Pics

Georgia Aquarium Continued

Georgia Aquarium

Brian and I decided that we needed a little getaway for a night with the kids since Brian has been so busy with work and since we haven't had a vacation in awhile. So we decided to head to Atlanta on Sunday, April 26, and stayed at the Embassy Suites downtown. That night we ate at Copeland's Cheesecake Factory, and on Monday, we headed to the Georgia Aquarium. I can't tell you how excited Abby Grace was about going to the aquarium! Once she found out about it, she couldn't stop asking about when we were going to get there. This was actually her second visit because we took her when she was 1 year old. Anyway, she and Caleb both had a wonderful time, as you can see from the pictures. If you know us well, you know that we are always going nonstop, so of course, we headed to Lenox to do a little shopping after the aquarium and to meet up with our past Sunday school teacher, Karen Bowers, who we miss greatly (she and her husband moved to Buckhead for a new job opportunity). Then, Brian just couldn't resist the Braves game that night, so we headed there as well. He actually found club level tickets on stubhub.com for really cheap, so that made it even more fun, and the kids really liked it. See pictures above. Then after the game was over, we made a late night drive back to Birmingham. It was definitely all well worth it!

Caleb's Growing!

I've been a little behind on my blogging these days, so I am going to try to catch up! Here are some pictures of Caleb from April 18--he was about 5 1/2 months then! Since that time, Caleb has started solid foods! We began with the veggies, like squash and carrots, which I think are still his current favorites. Then, we added in the fruits, which of course, he loves! So now, he really doesn't like his cereal that much! He also now has 2 teeth! The first one came in and then soon after, the second one came in at about the same time he turned 6 months. He's still rolling all over the place, but he hasn't learned to sit alone yet. However, he does love to sit in a high chair, his exersaucer, and his jumpy thing. Is he still sleeping through the night yet? Not quite, but he's working on it! We had a few setbacks this past week with a cold/cough, 6 months shots, and the teeth coming in. Speaking of, Caleb had his 6 months check up last week, and he weighed 18 lbs 7 oz and was 27 inches long, which puts him in the 75th percentile on height and weight. So, needless to say, he's growing up on us!

Easter

Visiting the Easter Bunny!

Abby Grace at her Easter party at school.

Caleb loves the plastic wrap!

Abby Grace and Caleb with their Easter baskets.

Abby Grace with one of her Easter surprises at my parents' house.

I am beginning to think that Easter is really one of my favorite holidays of the year and really is the most important since we celebrate Jesus's resurrection. Without this day, what we believe would mean nothing! How wonderful it is to have a Savior who lives! Anyway, it is a special holiday, and of course, the dressing up, the Easter eggs, bunnies, and baskets do make it fun too! We did take Abby Grace and Caleb to see the Easter bunny at Brookwood Mall, which went over very well. Abby Grace also had an Easter party at school; I was in charge of the favors this time, which one of the pictures shows. We dyed Easter eggs with Carianne at my parents' house, and of course, like everyone else, we went to church Sunday with dye on our hands! And thank goodness Brian was finally off on Easter! He has had to work on Easter I think every year since he has been in residency so we were all very happy to have him around. Abby Grace and Caleb both woke up to find that the Easter Bunny did come see them and even managed to hide some eggs and leave them baskets. It was a fun, but a quick morning. The kids wore their matching lime green outfits to church, and then we headed to the Brunson's for a wonderful lunch! Another reason, I love Easter--the food! :) After seeing all of Brian's family, we headed to my house for a second lunch and several Easter egg hunts! So you can say, it was a wonderful day!

A Night of Almost Uninterrupted Sleep!

Quick post--Caleb finally slept through the night last night! He fell asleep around 9:30 p.m. and Brian found him happy as could be in his crib around 7 a.m. this morning! I don't know what caused it, but I hope it happens again! He did eat a lot of rice cereal at dinner, more than he ever has before, so maybe that helped, who knows? In fact, he was really interested in eating; I have never seen him so into his cereal, but he was, and Brian could hardly feed him fast enough! The night wasn't completely peaceful though because Abby Grace woke up upset about something, but luckily she immediately went back to sleep after I checked on her. I guess it's just that difficult to find one night of uninterrupted sleep! Oh well! I guess I should quit blogging and get to bed myself right now!

Riding Thomas the Train

This past Saturday we journeyed to Calera to the Railroad Museum and took a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine! It's kind of funny how much Abby Grace loves trains. In fact, she has her own train track and absolutely loves it! She also likes to watch her Thomas DVDs. Thus, we decided that a Thomas excursion would be perfect for her, and she was thrilled! We actually bought our tickets ahead of time (you even have to decide then on the exact time you will be riding the train), so I was a little worried about the weather. However, the day was beautiful and warm, and we had lots of fun! They have some games and inflatables that the kids can do while you wait for your train ride, but the main attraction is definitely riding Thomas! It's actually a real train ride that lasts about 20-25 minutes and of course, Thomas is the engine! We decided to go for comfort and air conditioning so we rode on the car that was closed in; however, you can go on an open air car as well, and all the prices are the same no matter which car you choose. Anyway, Abby Grace's other favorite part of the day was buying the huge Thomas balloon that practically took up the whole backseat on the way home and currently can be found floating somewhere around our house! However, she plays with it everyday! Anyway, it was definitely worth the drive for her, and I would recommend it. They also do a special event at Christmas time, the Polar Express, that sounds like lots of fun and would be worth checking into! Anyway, it was a special day and was just great having Brian and the whole family together to enjoy it!