chuga chuga choo choo carter is 2

How can he already be 2? We no longer have a baby, he is definitely a toddler and on his way fast to becoming a little boy. He is such a little joy and a little monster all at the same time! He has this sly little grin that makes it very difficult for me to stay strong and discipline him…But I do most of the time. :)
Some fun things about Carter at this age. He is in LOVE with Elway our yellow lab. Elway now sleeps in his room and we have found him more than once asleep on the floor with his head using Elway’s body as a pillow. He is talking much more and even in sentences. He tries to do everything his big sister does. He likes to read, color, work puzzles and play with cars/trucks/trains but most of all he LOVES to wrestle. He wrestles his friends at school, Ella Catherine, Matt, poor Elway and on occasion even momma. He would rather be outside than inside. He is an eater. He is still not a fan of a lot of veggies but we are working on them. He drinks from a regular cup and loves to say “hey (insert name) watch this” right before he takes a drink. Right now he is using both hands so we can’t tell if he will be a righty or a lefty. He is a fish. He scares his momma because he has very little fear of the water. He calls Ella Catherine "E" for sissy. (We hope this sticks because we think it is too cute!)
At his yearly checkup he weighed 30lbs 15oz and was almost 42inches tall. He continues to be on the big side for his age and as always his head circumference is >95%...lots of brains in that head. :)
To celebrate his big day, he had a party at school with his friends on Friday and then Saturday all the grandparents came over for a family celebration. He had a great time and we couldn’t be happier to be celebrating our little miracle.

chuga chuga choo choo carter is 2. Door sign for his party. Got the cute idea from my friend Emily.

Pop, Ella Catherine and Carter

Birthday Boy with Nana

Blowing bubbles with mimi

One of my favorite parts of the kid's birthdays is baking and decorating their cakes.

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Carter, Happy Birthday to you!

Big sister, Aka "E", helping him blow out his candles and showing him how it is done.

LOVE that grin!

Reading his new Curious George book

Cleaning up with his new vacuum cleaner. The boy loves to push the swifter around and so mimi thought he might like his own vacuum.

Matt's Birthday Part 2/ The Kentucky Derby

May 7, 2011 was Brian's birthday. When we woke that morning, we celebrated with a fabulous brunch. Jennifer and Jeff went all out! We enjoyed mimosas and an assortment of wonderful food. Then it was time to get ready for the big day ahead. After we all got dressed in our derby attire we all enjoyed cocktails (mint Julips and Fleur de Lis) while we had our pre-derby photos taken. I think the drinks plus the anticipation of the day ahead made us smile that much more and made for some really great pictures. Then it was off to the derby. Pictures do not do the experience justice. It was an amazing day. We had so much fun seeing all the beautiful horses and betting on all the races. We didn't make a lot of money but we did come out a little ahead. :)We are so happy and lucky to have experienced it with family and great friends. The horses coming around the first turn The grand stand view from our box
Church hill Downs
Tickets in hand
Matt with his winnings from the Derby, put this with our winnings from the previous races and we didn't do bad at all!
The husbands in their searsucker suits! (Jeff, Brian and Matt)
Brian and Lori's pre-derby picture
our pre-derby picture

Matt's Birthday Part 1: Maker's Mark

Last year at my best friend Jen's wedding in Louisville, Kentucky we began talking about the possibility of coming back for the Kentucky Derby in 2011. Often those ideas fade as the year goes on but NOT this one. When Jen told me that Derby weekend was the weekend of May 6th, 7th and 8th, I was super excited! Matt's birthday is May 6th and my brother's is May 7th. Brian has always wanted to go to the derby. So, when Jen called and said she was going to order tickets and asked if we wanted to go, I jumped at the chance. What a great bday gift for the hubby and well I had to get two tickets as I didn't want him to go a lone. :) We extended the invite to Brian and Lori and they too jumped at the chance. We have been so excited all year for this weekend and it didn't disappoint.
Friday was Matt's Bday and the group decided that a trip to the Maker's Mark distillery was in order. It is located in the beautiful Ketucky country side. It is amazing to me that this one distillery supplies all the maker's mark for the entire world. Blows my mind. It was a fascinating tour. We happened to luck up and they were also bottling that day. I felt like I stepped into an episode of Lavergne and Shhirley. :) After the tour, we all got a sample of Maker's mark and the newer Maker's 46 (named so because it took 46 tries to get the bourbon the flavor they wanted)plus a yummy bourbon ball. Then we all had the opportunity to dip our own bottle of Maker's mark and sign up to be an Ambassador. We gladly signed up for this opportunity. Our names go on a barrel and when it is ready in 2-5years we will get a certificate in the mail inviting us to come and taste test our barrel dated 5/6/2011. We have the opportunity to pour our own bottles, they will have special labels with our names on them and then we get to dip them. Another fun trip to look forward too!
As you can see from the pictures below we had a great time.


Waiting to go into the distillery

Time Capsule....would love to know what is inside.

Brian, Lori, Matt and Amy, and Jen(present but not in photo as she was the photographer)

Where the Magic Begins

The woman found out it was Matt's bday and gave him a pull from today's batch 5-6-11.

Day 1 Maker's Bourbon....Jen and Matt ready to taste

Day 3 Maker's Bourbon.....Brian and Lori ready to taste

The bottling room

Filling the bottles

Labeling the bottles

Dipping the bottles... Each dipper is allowed to dip a bottle all the way (called a slam dunk) twice an hour. These bottles are rare and worth some $$ so if you see one on the shelf of your local liquor store, buy it!

Matt loving the production line

Brian with the production line and a SLAM DUNK bottle

Birthday boys about to taste

Brian dipping his bottle

Lori dipping her bottle

Matt dipping his bottle

Me and the birthday boy about to head out for a very nice dinner with Jen, Jeff, Brian and Lori.

Easter 2011

Easter weekend was a very busy weekend. Nana and Pop came in town to help us design our yard/flower beds. We also had an easter egg hunt, Ella Catherine had a birthday party to attend and we had Easter to celebrate.

It was so busy that I forgot to take before and after pictures of the flower beds but believe me when I say that they look 100% better. I do not have a flare for yard design but thankfully my mother does and Matt and I can follow a plan. It is still a work in progress but I am having much more fun now with a visual of what it will eventually become.

Our church's Easter egg hunt was rained out the weekend before Easter but the grade school up the road was having a hunt of Saturday and invited us to come. So, we took the kids. This was Carter's first Easter egg hunt. He was all ready to go before they gave the ok but once it was go time he was shell shocked. He stood there in awe of the rst of the kids running around picking up eggs. Ella Catherine being the sweet big sister that she is kept running over and putting eggs in his basket. She didn't get near the amount she could have because she was so concerned about him. So Sweet! Finally after much coaxing he started picking up eggs. Of course, he wanted to open them immediately. The Hunt also had face painting and the opportunity to get your picture taken with the Easter bunny. The kids had a ball. Unfortunately it was cutt short because we had to get Ella Catherine to her friend's birthday party.

Easter morning we got dressed up in our finest and headed to church to praise the Lord. After mass, mom and I were treated to breakfast cooked by the men. It was fabulous! Once breakfast was over it was time for the kids to hunt for their baskets. That tricky rabbit, you never know where he is going to hide your goodies. After scouring the house, they headed outside. The rest of the day we finished up planting, did some relaxing and just enjoyed the day. Oh and we all ate WAY TOO much candy. :)
Carter and Ella Catherine with the Easter Bunny Ella Catherine getting her face painted
The cutest bunny in town! Let the hunting begin Carter Finally getting into the action Trying to open an egg
Easter morning sharing an egg full of jelly beans
Running and looking for her basket
Found it!
Carter finding his basketReady to dive in and see what the bunny brought

Showered with love

Elway misses Baylor but is loving the extra love from everyone especially from Ella Catherine and Carter