Welcome Sammy!!!

Samuel Allen was born Monday night at 7:43pm! He weighed 8 lbs, 4 oz and was almost 22 inches long. If that sounds big to you, that's because it is!!!!! He's nearly a pound and a half more than Anna was.....stuff that didn't fit her for weeks is already fitted on him! He did not want to come out, either - took 1 1/2 hours of pushing before he graced us. But now he's here and he is GORGEOUS!!! Our sweet little man!

grumpers at the pumpkin patch

There was just too much to laugh at in these photos to keep them to ourselves. Thanks, Auntie Eli for the hayride pic! Evidence to the contrary, Anna did actually have a VERY fun day.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Here are some brief snapshots of this past weekend... on Friday we visited with Peter, Katie, Ellie, Eric and Violet at the Wassermansion - Saturday we headed to the Pumpkin Patch near Athens - and on Sunday, had a nice dinner at the Other Fowlkes' in Decatur to celebrate Dad/Carter/Cart-Cart's birthday!

Here is Anna playing in Ellie's car... she has a new favorite toy we think!

Following up on Elizabeth's post, we went out to the pumpkin patch (Washington Farms), which also had hayrides, cow train rides, slides, corn mazes, piglet races and other fun stuff... these next few shots were too cute!

And finally, a shot of T, Cart-Cart, Anna and Carter at the celebration!

There are more pictures, but wanted to give a taste.

Animals!

These aren't real zoo-type animals, but Anna likes them on puzzles as well. Here is a typical puzzle night... starring Anna!

Zoo/Braves weekend!

So this past weekend, while my beautiful wife was getting her hairs did on Saturday morning, Anna and I decided to meet Thomas and Carter at the Zoo... it was a Daddy Daycare Saturday as Eli was in LA on a girls' weekend (Thomas and I discussed that you don't hear much about a boys' weekend... but you should, and that is a problem), and Ash was at her aforementioned salon appointment.

On Sunday, we hit the last Braves game of the season (which ended with a 15 inning thud loss - we left in the ninth while tied), and had a great time... ironically it was Ash's first attended game this season. She did great despite being 9 months pregnant.

All in all, a great weekend!

At the Zoo, there are many animals... but with Carter and Anna, you may only see a few of them, because more time is usually spent at the train, the carousel and the playground.

Thomas and Carter on the train.

Anna a bit nervous on the train... but she warmed up to it by the middle of the ride.

Anna and Carter seated on the peacock on the carousel. Carter was sweet enough to sit with Anna instead of on the animals that go up and down... Anna didn't quite warm up to those!

On to the playground! Anna LOVES to drive the school bus...

...and manically rock on the springy duck thingy... she hit her head a couple times, but she's a trooper...

I promise Ashley was actually at the game... she is just better about taking pictures than me, so here are some shots of us in our seats!

Anna and her Cart-Cart... and her Bay (panda), and her hot dog.

The gang... and Anna's hot dog.

It was a great day at the zoo and the ballpark... now I need to start planning that guys' weekend.

Baby? Yes, Baby.

With the little brother Sammy's arrival just around the corner, we've been trying to make sure Anna knows what she's in store for... easier said that done... here are some scenes of Mommy trying to get the point across... notice the confused look in the first clip...



Due date end of October!

Can I kick it?

True Grits

One of Anna's favorite meals is grits... she absolutely can't get enough of them... and she loves to eat them herself... here are the latest shots from this weekend at West Egg Cafe!

Quite the goofball!

Shoes, Hats and Doggy Beds

We've been very busy the past few weeks with work, family, the house and baby expecting... but wanted to post up some cute shots of the pumpkin!

Trying on her favorite big red shoes!

Trying on Daddy's Pensacola Beach hat!

And on a recent visit to Pam and Tom's, Anna found Gracie's doggy bed and loved it!

We know we've been slacking on the blog, but we hope to get back in the swing of things soon!

Cousin cuteness

As you may have read on Thomas and Elizabeth's blog, there's been some recent cousin cuteness after making up for several weeks apart. Thanks to Eli, we took the punkins to see "Dora Live" (very exciting for mommy!) then to a fun lunch at Six Feet Under. After that we did a little erranding, during which more cuteness was caught on camera.


Napping in the car while mommies alternate shopping.

Playing on the kiddie quarter rides (well several quarters).

So much travel lately!

I spent the past few weeks on the road (well, in the air) for work. I went to Utah, Oregon, NYC, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota and Wisconsin. UT and the last 3 let me mark a few states off of my "never been" list. I had a blast catching up with some old pals:

In Portland, I caught up with Shawn, a college pal (ok, ex, but it has now been ~15 years...jeez we're old). This is his very cool and sweet fiance, Heather.

Next I got to have dinner with Elizabeth and Joo in NYC.....love the coincidental trip! Got to see the city from her 42nd (or something) floor office and try some local favorites as opposed to the usual tourist stuff. Will need to bug Eli for the pic.

In IA, I caught up with another college pal, Scruff. He moved back to Des Moines after JR year, and no one's seen him since. I feel very fortunate!

Now, more importantly, here's some of the Anna moments caught in between.

Recent Anna Randoms

Wanted to share some more cuteness over the past couple weeks... Ash has been out of town saving the world in NYC and Minnesota, so Daddy Day Care is open for business and finding time to post is a little hard... luckily my Dad helped out last night and will be getting Anna from Daycare today (she loves her Cart-Cart!) And Mama comes home tonight!!

On one of our walks to the park in our neighborhood, we went by our neighbors Lee & Felicia's house to stop and smell the flowers...

When Angie and Allen were in town recently, we went to the Children's Museum downtown, where they have a little fishing pool where kids can use a magnet fishing pole to catch magnetic fish! Love the little raincoats they provide...

And finally... something Anna basically does every night now... walks in Mama's shiny red shoes! She's getting better at it and I'm sure there will be more shots of this...

She's our little goofball!

Sky Valley

We went to Sky Valley recently to visit Sam & Christine (Nonee & Pawpaw). Here are some shots of the hike we took:

Ash and her Dad leading the way:

Daddy got to push Anna:

Here is the waterfall at the beginning of the trail:

Anna seemed to enjoy the water... notice her submerged shoes:

A great shot!!