Thursday, September 9, 2010

July was full of visitors! We were so thrilled to have family and a good friend in town to meet sweet baby Carter! Anna Kate was certainly glad to have a little extra attention as well. :)

Great Granddaddy and Great Grandma Strickland were the first to visit. They could not get enough of the kiddos! It was so nice to have them here.




Next to arrive were Aunt Pam, Uncle Hank, Kevin and Brittany from Dallas. I was so bad about taking pictures! I just got a few of Pam. She is so thoughtful. She threw a "welcome" party for Carter, and even got AK a pink "big sister" cupcake!

A few days later Grandmama and Papa arrived! We were so happy they were able to make the trip! They spoiled AK as usual and started Carter out as well. :)




And finally Courtney was able to come visit toward the end of the month! I was so happy to see her and have her here. We missed Bobby, Isabelle, and Emma so much. I felt like I kept Courtney busy the whole time. She was such a fabulous help with the kids.

Monday, September 6, 2010

On Tuesday June 29th, after two doctors appointments, we were informed that little Carter would be coming into the world 5 weeks early. I had to be induced because of pregnancy induced hypertension and low amniotic fluid. We arrived at the hospital at midnight on June 30th, and eleven and a half hours later we were holding our beautiful baby boy.

One last pregnant pic (much to my dismay) before we left for the hospital.Laboring with love... and a whole lot of pain!
I was holding my breath and praying as the NICU nurses were assessing him. I was so very happy to hear that my baby boy born 5 weeks early was perfectly healthy!
6lbs 14ozs!


Because he was so early the nurses took him as soon as he was born. I finally got to hold him about 30 mins later.

Big sister!
Love this.
Daddy's boy.
Dressed and ready for visitors!
Anna Kate showing off her new baby. :)
Granna.
My sweethearts.
Time to go home!
Getting dressed in his cute personalized outfit from Granna!

So anxious to take our new addition home.


In the car with big sis for the first time.
Finally home.
Bath time for Carter.

He was not the biggest fan. So happy to have both kiddos in my lap! I love it!!!
Sleeping in a very special cradle. Carter's PaPa (great-granddaddy) built it for me when I was born. So Mommy, Uncle Brian, Anna Kate, and now Carter have used it.
What a complete joy he is to our lives!
I know I am very behind on pictures... I am in the process of going through them, so more to come very soon!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

This post may be a lot of pics and few words because we are headed to the hospital in just a few hours to meet our little Carter! It has been WAY too long since an update and my goal was to get this up before Carter's arrival, so here it goes!

Anna Kate was tickled to death when Granddaddy asked her to help in help in his garden. They planted peas one afternoon and she had so much fun that she talked about it for nearly a month! Talk about one happy little girl... you should have seen her excitement when she got to pick them off the plant and eat them! It was so cute. They were delicious, too!

Mother's Day was a whirlwind, but tons of fun. Jessica and I had to work at the Chattanooga Market with our company, but we took turns going to eat brunch/lunch with our families. Blue Water is always delicious!
With our mommy dearest. :) (Pardon the shadows)

Who knew a four dollar sprinkler could be so much fun!?!
Anna Kate is obsessed with holding our cat Lucy. She told me here that she was practicing for holding her baby Carter.
Happy birthday little Liam! Can't believe this little guy is two! AK had a blast celebrating her cousin's birthday on a real train ride! I was so sad I was confined to bedrest and had to miss it.



We were so happy to welcome this beautiful little girl to our family last week. Harper Marie Arnold made me a a proud aunt for the third time on June 21st. I snuck to the hospital to hold her for a few minutes, but have not seen her since! Can't wait to hold her again and introduce her to her new cousin. It will be so fun them being just a little over a week apart in age!
All the girl cousins. Don't worry Liam, another boy is on the way!
AK loves her new cousin and talks about her all the time!

AK really likes to play in the rain with daddy! A nice summer shower was a good boredom break for her.



AK spent last Thursday playing at her buddy Reed's house. She had so much fun! She made mommy some flowers out of her finger painted art. I love them!This picture makes me happy. Love these two so much! Happy father's day to Chris! What a wonderful daddy he is. Our father's day celebration will have to be a make up. :) I was stuck on bedrest again... I am very luck to have some great father's around me though. :)
I was about 31 weeks pregnant in this photo. I will have to take one last "belly shot" tonight. AK loves talking to Carter in my belly and giving him kisses. So sweet!

My pre-delivery pedi. AK begged me to get "blue toes" for Carter. So... I did. What can I say, they are kinda fun!
Next post, Carter! Can't believe it! I am feeling so excited and and anxious at the same time! It has been a long hard journey, but I can't believe it is about to end! For those of you who don't know, I started having blood pressure "issues" at 24 weeks, was put on "home rest" at 30 weeks, and bed rest at 32 weeks. A big thanks to all of you who have hepled me through whether it has been a meal, help with Anna Kate, or prayers! I am especially grateful to my mom who has sacrificed her whole summer break thus far to help me. She has been here almost every single week day taking care of AK and helping in my house. I could not have done it with out her!

Here is a little fun fact... Carter is scheduled to arrive on the exact same day of pregnancy as Anna Kate. 35 weeks and 5 days. :)