We're Home!

Just a quick "hello" to say thanks for all the comments and excitement over little Carter! We are so in love with him! We had a wonderful time at the hotel/hospital...it's like a resort! We enjoyed all the visits from friends and family and getting such special bonding time with our new baby....and Mallory loved being with her grandparents for 4 days! Here are just a few pics... :)

Mallory enjoyed visiting each day and loving on her brother....

She read her "Big Sister" books over and over and loved her trip to "Build-a-Bear" where she made her cat "Meow Meow"! (Thanks to Mike's Team at work!)

Lots of time hanging out with "my boys!"

MiMi and Mallory changing Carter's 1st diaper at home! Mal is such a big helper already!

Mallory loves her little brother soooooo much as seen below!

...And Baby Makes Four!

Well, the wait is finally over, and we want to thank everyone so much for their prayers and encouragement over this pregnancy!!! Carter Blake was born today (8/27) at 9:40 am by C-Section....We were happy to be in good hands when he was not cooperating during labor this morning. Carter is a chubba-bunchkins weighing in at 8 lbs 6 ozs and is 19 inches long!... We know God used the prayers of all our friends and family to get him to 36 wks 4 days, and feel incredibly blessed that he is doing very well and has been hanging out with us all day. Praise God!! :) Please pray for his continued health...we hope that you will enjoy the pics of our newest edition and his proud parents!

Last Hurrah!

Mallory enjoyed her first painting experience! It got everywhere!
Mal put a turtle in the river's tunnel and thought it was hilarious!
"Alice in Wonderland" anyone!?!?!!?

Our little "Dino Baby" talking to "Dino Dad"!

Maybe a future in archeology??!?!?!
The Stegosaurus Slide was a hit! And below is our little hatchling....
We went out as a family on Sat. to a hands on museum in the area as a last activity before the summer came to a close. We had a great time! There was so much for Mallory to do and see! Can't wait to go back sometime! :)

And here is a video of Mallory meeting Brother and Sister Bear at the museum...she was so excited, but didn't want to get too close....Can you blame her??? Look at those claws!!!! :)

Zoo-be-do!

Checking out the fish at MiMi and PaPa's with "ack" (Zack)...
Feeding them and watching them eat before heading out to the zoo....
Yesterday our friends from DC came down to go to the zoo! The 2 MiMis took their grandchildren to the zoo and Amy and I got to stay behind and chat at the house. It was so nice to have several hours to catch up with Amy bc now we both have children and it's harder to chat at the beach with kids on different schedules! The 2 Grandmothers had a good time too at the zoo! And Mallory learned how to say "Becky" yesterday (Zack's MiMi's name)! Next time we will have to go to the BIG zoo in DC! :)

Peaceful Pace

Blowing bubbles with the cousins....quite a hit!
Playing with Evan and Rachel....Mallory has gotten to hang out with some other kids in the last few days which has been nice. We had a lot of fun with cousins Abby and "Pop-Pus" (Thomas) and Uncle "Maaaaa" (Matt) this weekend when they got back from RI.

And today Mallory and I hung out with Kate and her kiddos at "Chat and Play." My first outing alone with Mallory since I've been resting! It was so good to talk with Kate and I think the kids had a good time too! Thanks for being there as I tried out my "wings" Kate!

Our doctor's appointment went well on Monday and the doctor thinks the baby boy will hang on til Sept. now....who knows, but God right!!?! It's a bit like predicting the weather...when they say no snow...it snows and vice versa! We just have to trust in God's perfect timing!

The last month has been so peaceful and I have been so spoiled with all the resting...I'm going to slowly start trying to do a little more each day....We have had a WONDERFUL relaxing summer and we are going to miss Mike so much when he goes back to work on Monday! He has taken such good care of us at home!! :)

Just Peachy!

When Daddy was getting ready to go to the gym he laid a peach out on the table to take with him...who knew there was a "peach napper" in the house! She llllllllllllllllloooooved it and almost finished the whole thing!
Riley and Mallory enjoyed their playdate!
Reading with Riley...
We had so much fun with Trina (friend since Middle School) and her daughter Riley yesterday! It was so nice for the Mommies to catch up and after the girls warmed up they had a great time playing. Mallory loved Riley's jewelery...guess we need to go shopping for some bracelets! :) Hope we can hang out again soon!

Dr. Visit and her 2nd Home....

Went to the doctor and got a good report! Yay God! Thanks for your prayers....please continue to pray for health and safety! The little man is doing well and there are no changes! And now we get to go each week! We will see the doctor again Mon! :)

Mallory went to MiMi and PaPa's to spend the night and had a blast....when we went to pick her up this afternoon she didn't even get excited to see us...it's her 2nd home now! (Glad we won't have to worry about her missing us when she goes to stay for a couple days when her brother makes his debut!) She and MiMi went on a playdate with MiMi's friend and her grand daughter to the zoo today...the weather has been awesome and very fall-like!

After picking her up we made a stop at the library....Mal cracks us up with her reading! She can read upside down with her eyes shut (just like the Cat in the Hat!)...and all in her own own language! She picked 2 books on one of her favorite subjects-- Babies! Love how she gives kisses when she sees a mom kissing a baby in the book!

And below she is doing a puzzle with Daddy....She loves doing them now and is enjoying her puzzle with "MoMo" (Elmo) on it...

Half a Decade!

Ate a late lunch at a local steak house that we love!!! Yum Yum!
We broke out our Wedding Favor CD and listened to it....it was neat to go back in time and reflect on the last 5 yrs!
We got to open the predictions that were made before our wedding by friends and family! It was so much fun and so hard to wait this long! (Thanks for the idea Casey and Brian)...and a lot of the predictions were right!!! And some were just plain hilarious!!! We can't wait to open the other one at 10 yrs!!! :)

Many predicted we would have a little one at home...and here she is enjoying her "Anniversary Popsicle"! :)
And many predicted one on the way....and here he is at 34 wks! We are so grateful!!! MiMi and PaPa have the same Anniversary and after dropping Mallory off they were headed out to dinner to celebrate 39 yrs! Yay! (We had a WONDERFUL time....thanks for watching our little girl MiMi, PaPa, and Aunt Susan!)

Cheesin' Huggin' Cinderell-ee!

We love Mallory's newest "Cheesiest Grin"! We've been trying to catch it on film and finally did! (All 4 of her Canines are breaking through....she is going to have a full set of pearly whites soon!)
Recognize the suit?!?!? When it is time to get out and dry off and leave the babies outside to do the same she has to dress them in her suit complete with a band-aid in the exact place it was on her...(Aunt Susan broke out her "Rub-a-Dub-Dolly" from the 80s for Mal to play with...she loves it!!! Thanks SuzyQ!)

Mallory is obsessed with a lot of things lately....she loves to dress and undress her dolls...as soon as one is dressed she says "ock" (off)...this game can last for ages! She also loves her pool...we've gotten tons of mileage out of that this summer! Another thing that she loves to talk about are "Boo Boos"...she loves getting kisses on them and band-aids! And after Time Outs now she will say, "Daw-wee"....it melts your heart to hear her say, "Sorry"! :)

Here are 2 videos that make us smile....

And Daddy loves that the "Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree" on this obession....our little girl loves to clean! :)