Dogwood Arts Festival

Carter and I went downtown to the Market Square Art Fair today. It is part of the Dogwood Arts Festival that is going on all month. We browsed the vendor booths and found a few presents for people. There were less vendors there than last year so it didn't take long to see everything. I packed a lunch and we found a nice spot in the little park area to eat.

Carter enjoyed getting out of his stroller for a little bit in the park. He liked checking out the stream and this sculpture ...


Carter played on this bench/sculpture for about 20 minutes. He was very mad when I decided it was time to move on ...


We caught part of the Cirque de Chine performance (they have a full show in Gatlinburg). Carter seemed to enjoy watching all the performers and put up with sitting on my lap on the ground for over 30 minutes.

I tried to take a picture of the two of us ...


Here are a few videos of the performers ...

I got this video of Carter watching the performers ...

It was a really nice day - cooler but sunny. Carter took a short nap on the way home and then we played outside the rest of the afternoon until Brian came home from work.

Whack a Mole

Carter is going to be really good at whack-a-mole!

After more than a week of beautiful weather, it rained and rained and rained some more here today. I tried to run some errands with Carter this afternoon and we got soaked. Everything (including my jeans) are still drying out in the garage.

Carter and I went to the Mother Goose program this morning. Carter was a little tired near the end but loved it again. He especially loved the circular tarp that we held over the kids and brought up and down while they ran around underneath it. Carter loved it the most and couldn't get enough! I was also very proud of Carter because every time that it was time to put toys away (the balls and maracas), he collected as many as he could find and put them in the bag that the teacher was holding. I always expected a fit because he was having so much fun playing with the toys. Carter was a little show off again (talking and dancing) and got lots of attention from everyone in class!

Zoo

Carter and I went to the zoo today with Sarah and Mary Grace. I wasn't thinking that other counties might have their Spring Break this week, but apparently some did because it was pretty crowded. It was really warm and sunny again today so I'm sure that encouraged more people to come.

We had fun walking around and looking at the animals for a couple of hours. My favorite animals, the gibbons, were playful today and super chatty. I've never heard them make noise before but there were calling back and forth to each other the whole time we were at their exhibit. It was pretty neat to listen to.

I didn't take many pictures but here is one of the kids. Right after this Carter started giving Mary Grace some of his Cheerios and then when Mary Grace got her snack of animal crackers, she kept giving Carter some. They shared very well today!


I took this (not very good) picture in the same spot about 10 1/2 months ago (last May). These two sure have changed since then!

Spring or Summer?

I'm not complaining because this winter was awful (cold and wet). But it's been so warm and sunny here for about a week that it feels like summer. I think we set a record high today with a temperature of 85 F. I've already been turning on the air some because opening windows and turning on all the ceiling fans isn't cutting it. But I'm loving being able to get outside!

Our dogwoods are starting to bloom and our bulbs are starting to have some gorgeous flowers. Our yard is starting to look like spring!





Carter is obsessed with outside right now. We played outside twice today for about an hour each time, but he still threw several fits today when I wouldn't let him go out. One time he was standing on one of his books at the front door trying to reach the knob. He loves it out there.

Here are a few random videos of the little guy from today ...

Carter kept throwing his soccer ball down this sloped sidewalk. I'm not sure why he kept doing it!

Carter loves to close doors on us. Here's a video of him closing himself into the half bathroom today.

Carter figured out (all by himself!) how to stack the pieces on one of the toys my dad and Jan got him.

27 Weeks

I'm now 27 weeks along with baby #2. Here is a picture from today ...


And a picture from 23 weeks for comparison ...


I've been feeling pretty good throughout this second trimester. I'm beginning though to feel the effects of being so big. It's getting harder to lean over and generally just more difficult to do some things (though that's not stopping me from doing anything). I have another check up next Monday.

When I was trying to get a picture of my belly this afternoon, Carter just wanted to be held so I got some cute pictures of the two of us together.

Happy Easter

We had lots of fun yesterday celebrating Easter.

After breakfast we gave Carter his Easter baskets. My dad and Jan gave him a giant duck and lots of little Easter stuff. Brian's parents mailed a box of presents that included an assortment of things, with Carter's favorite being a yellow construction worker's hat. My mom gave Carter a remote control car and a toy lawnmower. Brian and I gave Carter a golf set, a soccer ball, and a movie.

Our presents to Carter ...


Easter basket from my dad and Jan ...


Giving the duck a hug ...


"This looks like fun ..."


A hard hat is a necessary tool sometimes when playing golf with Carter ...




After presents, the Easter Bunny (also known as Brian) "hid" eggs in the yard. Carter had lots of fun collecting them.

It took a few eggs before we convinced Carter to take his basket with him instead of running eggs back to it every time he picked one up.










So determined ...



"There's another one!"


Here's a video of Carter collecting some eggs ...

"I got them all!"


Family photo ...


After Carter's morning nap and lunch, Brian and I worked in the yard for a little bit and my dad and Jan took Carter for a walk and then played with him inside for awhile.

Carter refused to take an afternoon nap so we decided to dye eggs.


We attempted to keep Carter busy while we did the dyeing because all I saw Carter doing was spilling dye and breaking eggs.

He ate Cheerios out of plastic eggs for awhile ...


Carter got to pretend to dye his own eggs ...



Dyed eggs waiting to be decorated ...


I bought a kit that included stickers, pipe cleaners, and fuzz to make monsters.

Brian let Carter help decorate one of the eggs.



Here are some of our results. They are a little crazy!









We ended up going out to dinner and then came home, played with Carter some more, and all crashed. We had a lot of fun over the weekend and had beautiful weather so we got to spend most of it outside. My dad and Jan left early this morning. We're really glad they were able to finally see Carter again!