Back to School Again

First day back to school at Mother's Day Out. This year, Duke goes two times a week. He is such a big boy!

Here he comes, proudly toting his lunch box.
He's so proud of himself!
"Aww, mom, do you have to take a picture?"
"Well, ok. If you insist."

Bring on the babies!

This pregnancy has definitely been a shared adventure as my friends Lyles and Megan were/are both due within a week or two of me. Monday of this week, Lyles had Baby #1 -- a little baby boy that she and her husband Dan named Tanner Brooks. Meg and I, on the other hand, are still waiting for our little ones to join the world. Not sure who will go first but we're hoping we'll have them on the same day since we see the same midwife!

Tuesday night, a group of girls got together for a baby shower celebrating the upcoming arrival of Megan's little one. Megan is expecting a little girl and they plan to call her Lucy Opal. Below are pictures from the shower and, of course, belly pics of me and Meg. Enjoy!


That's right -- bring on the babies!
Um...hello belly :)
All smiles.
Gotta love girls night out!

Mickey D's

Today I babysat Megan's son - and Duke's good friend - Silas (age 1 1/2). The three of us went to an outside park and then when it got too hot, made a trip to the two story play area at Mickey D's. The boys were too cute!

Shooting hoops.
Handsome Silas.
"What, you want some of this?"
Trying to get it into the hoop.
Though there were two cars, the boys decided to drive one "together."
Practicing our sharing. Silas gets to drive first!
Now its Duke's turn.
"Vroom, vroom..." Sound effects are a necessity these days :)
And finally - after all that hard playing - it's time for lunch!

Duke's Final SAFE Start Swim Lesson at the YMCA

Duke finally finished up his 6 weeks of swim lessons. It looks like he's on his way to setting an Olympic World Record in swimming -- just like his great Aunt Nancy!

His teacher, Jaime, had Darrell and I get in the pool with him for his final lesson. We practiced having him swim between us.

Here, Darrell moves out of the way so Duke learns to flip on his back and float.
Darrell making sure Duke makes it to float position... :)
Can you tell he's a proud papa?Way to go Duke!! Our little swimmer.

BEACH WEEKend

Some of Darrell's favorite childhood memories stem from Beach Week. Growing up, every summer the same group of families would gather for one week at a beach in Florida. Darrell says he remembers how much anticipation accompanied the build up to this week.

Today the Beach Week tradition still continues - though the time looks a little bit different as the group has grown and the "kids" from Beach Week now have their own kiddos. This year, instead of gathering for a whole week, we gathered for the weekend at Reunion Resort (about 40 minutes outside downtown Orlando). No beach, you say?! Yep. No beach. But there was a pool and a cool water park with a lazy river. Though the time was short, it was good to be together.


Hangin' at the pool.
Swimmin' with Gita and Bear.
Cruisin' on the lazy river.
Darrell, Duke and Jemima
Our little fam.
Dinner by the pool.
Gita showing Duke the ropes :)
Ok, I wasn't there for charades but from the stories and look of the pictures, Darrell was pretty entertaining!

Twoo! Twoo! All Aboard for Duke's 2nd Birthday!

Host: Station Master Darrell Carpenter
Location: Train boards at Carpenter Station
When: Sunday, April 11, 12:00PM to 2:00PM

Chug-a, Chug-a, Choo, Choo...
Duke is turning two!
All aboard and don't worry if you're late,
We'll be sure to save you ice cream and cake!

No gifts, please - just your company!


Shout outs:
* Yia Yia the cake maker! For making the most incredible Thomas the Train cake I have ever seen. I think she found a new calling!
* Gita. For making PB & J sandwiches cut in the shape of little trains.
(Let's face it, the party would have been a lot less cool without both grandmother's touches!)
* Mckittrick, Meredith and Greg Simmons. In from out of town, they pitched in and helped us get ready for Duke's big day! We loved having them here with us and appreciated their help.

Proud Pops & Yia Yia with thier newest grand baby

This past Easter weekend, my parents traveled up to York, Pennsylvania to meet precious Colton for the first time. Here are Pops and Yia Yia with Ellena, Connor and Colton (the newest addition to my oldest brother Pat, and his wife's Christie's, family!).

Easter Egg Hunt

A friend of mine decided to host her own Easter Egg Hunt this past Saturday. Well, more specifically host one for her 18th month old daughter Reagan and all her little friends (most of which ended up being 2 and under). We went to a local park. Parents provided coffee, bagels and treats, and soon the kids were off. Duke had the best time. Unfortunately, (although totally adorable too!) I spent most of the time coaching Duke on 1) how not to take other kids baskets of goodies and 2) how the point was to collect Easter eggs rather than just stop and eat the chocolate he found in each one. Too cute!

Here are some pictures from the event. My friend Courtney Milam who planned the event had her friend Kirsten Zarek (who is a photographer) come and take photos of the hunt. Enjoy! You can check out more of Kirsten's work at kirstenzarekphotography.com.

Gettin' geared up for the egg hunt!

And everyone's off! Duke finds his first egg and immediately tears into the chocolate goody he found inside!
Duke's friend Reagan (cutie that's in front of him on the right.)
Yummy chocolate!
You want some?
Mommy stealin' some of Duke's sugar :)


Classic pic of Duke's running stance.
You guys coming or what?


I love this little boy!!!