Caroline Update

Miss Priss, 4 months old

Caroline had her playgroup this week.  It was a small crowd, with so many people out of town for the summer, but still fun to see her with other babies.   She was a perfect angel, smiling lots at her friends, but then lost it when we decided to take this picture.

(L to R) Worth Scott, Lila Cheatwood, Caroline (only one not cooperating), and Quillen Thomisser

Parties, Pools, & A Movie!

A slow week came to a close with a busy weekend around here.  Lots of fun stuff going on:

Friday afternoon Wells went to a 3rd birthday party for his friends Hayes, Bonner, and Wil.  Fun party with bounce houses, clowns, the works.  We only got this one picture of him, and it was at the face painting station.  The little girls in line before him were getting rainbows, butterflies, he could have had a car or anything else he wanted drawn on his face, but what did he choose?  A green circle on his hand (so random!).

Friday night we had a cookout for Matt's half-brother, Chip, who just turned 21!  Here are all the brothers together:  Matt, Chip & Beau.  Wells is so lucky to have 2 young, fun uncles who live close by!

W hanging with Uncle Beau & his friends at the Rogers' pool on Saturday

On Sunday, GG took Wells to see Cars 2.  He was so excited and talked about it all morning.  He got out all his Lightning McQueen gear in preparation for the show.

Movie man (GG said he sat through the whole thing and loved it!)

Sunday afternoon, Wells' friend Will had a 2nd birthday pool party.

Pinata fun with Will & the Sorrell twins

As usual, the entire weekend has been all about Wells!  Here is sweet Caroline, being a great sister always along for the ride.

A Week Off for Wells

Regrettably, this was a summer week in-town, with no camp for Wells.  Mommy won't make that mistake again.  Lots of down time with an energetic, wide open 3 year old is NOT a good idea.  A week off for Wells means a week ON (bigtime) for Mommy.  But thanks to GG & Aunt Ann and playdates with friends we've managed to make it through the week.  This morning Sophia's mom (who was in the same boat) asked us to the pool and fun was had by all!

Cute W

Can't beat a poolside corndog

A loving goodbye

And Mr No Nap on the way home, who told me just minutes before "I NOT tired!"

Happy Father's Day!

Wishing a very Happy Father's Day today to our wonderful dads! (Matt & I celebrated with our dads last weekend since they were in town for Caroline's baptism).  Lucky for me, my dad, father-in-law, and Matt are all simple guys and easy to buy for -they just enjoy a card and a nice bottle:)

And I want to wish a wonderful Father's Day to Matt, the best dad I could ask for to our two precious children.  Wells & Caroline are SO blessed to have you! 

One of my friends did a little montage on her blog for Father's Day and I thought it was so sweet.  So I'm copying her and posting a few of my favorite pictures of Matt with our lucky kids, who both adore him so very much:

With Wells the day he was born.  Matt is a fantastic swaddler - way better than me - I think he learned from one of the nurses at the hospital when W was born, but he must have paid very close attention because neither of our kids can escape his swaddle.

With W ~3 months.  I know they will share some of the same hobbies and interests, you can already see it happening and it is so fun.

With W ~6 months at Big Daddy's.  Matt is never afraid to take our kids anywhere.  Never worried they will be too hungry or tired, not concerned with their outfits, etc.  It's such a great reminder to me to 'go with the flow' and let our kids just enjoy life. 

On their 1st and 31st birthdays.  Wells always wants to do everything just like him.  Here they are having a birthday drink together. 

Celebrating 2 & 32  (I keep thinking how fun 20 & 50 and 30 & 60 will be for them...)

With Caroline the day she was born.  Again, seeing him here makes me remember what a good balance he is to me....cautious but always calm.

On duty with Caroline (~1 week).  I love how he multi-tasks so well with them too:  Mowing the grass while watching Wells play outside (even if it takes twice as long because he has to stop a hundred times), refilling the huge dog food container with Wells one Solo cup at a time, or reading the paper while soothing tiny Caroline.

Making her laugh (~3 months).  One of the best things about Matt is that he is just plain silly.  He makes me laugh all the time, and I see that part of his personality in Wells now too.  Caroline may end up more like me (without the full-on silly gene), but either way, I know that with Matt (and Wells now too) we will always have fun boys around us to entertain and lighten the mood.

A Weekend Away

MANY thanks to Wells & Caroline's grandmothers - who took care of our precious little ones so we could get away to rest, relax, and have fun in Chapel Hill with some friends for a weekend and a wedding celebration!  First time away in 4 months - and while it was great, we missed them like crazy.

Mommy & Daddy at Top of the Hill

Before a birthday/Father's Day dinner celebration

We got to see so many friends & celebrate the wedding of Paula & Matt (these lucky newlyweds are moving to Australia for 18 months!)

And of course revisit some old stomping grounds (Pantana Bobs)

So now it's back to reality - but we couldn't be happier to celebrate Father's Day at home with our two sweet ones!!

Caroline's Baptism

Our sweet Caroline was baptized today and "marked as one of God's own forever."  We are so proud of her!

Kacky lent us the Culpepper family gown, the same one Caroline's aunt Charlotte & uncle Chip were baptized in.

In the Culpepper gown & her bonnet (a gift from her godmother)

With proud Mommy & Daddy at church

We had brunch at Myers Park after the service

Pretty peonies for our pretty girl

C's setup

Cake

Favors

Family (Grandaddy, Ann, Pat, GG, Gary, Laurel, Beau, and Kacky)

Caroline & Mommy

GG with handsome Mr Wells

Little man was on his best behavior for his sister's big day (and btw the mimosa is not his!)

With Poppy enjoying some waffles

Keke & Caroline

Caroline with her godmother, who is on double naptime duty with her and Lillie Burke

Caroline with us and her godparents, Tricia & Thomas (and their cute LB, who is sound asleep)

And relaxing with her Bubbie, post service

The "Caroline" Bracelet

My friend/neighbor Jessica & her business partner Christi started their own jewelry line a little over a year ago -  they make amazing jewelry and have done SO well - you can find their things in every major boutique in Charlotte, and at this point in stores all across the country.  They've been featured in magazines, seen on celebrities, the works (I'm so proud of her!).

The company is named after their little girls, Towne, Christi's daughter, and Reese, Jessica's daughter (www.towneandreese.com).  And each piece of their jewelry is named after a daughter of one of their friends. 

Jessica recently sent me a sneak peek of the "Caroline" bracelet that will be available in the fall (I love it!):



Little Man

Mommy decided to buy W his first sport coat for his sister's baptism this weekend.  I love it -and I could literally buy the rest of his wardrobe at our new Brooks Brothers store at Phillips Place - seriously go crazy in there in the little boy section.  But I keep telling myself that this is my child who prefers PJs over a polo on a normal day, so the navy blue blazer, oxford shirt, bow tie, khaki pants, and saddle shoes may be a challenge.  But surely he will cooperate for this one day for his sweet sister, right???

Regardless, Mr. Man needed to get some alterations to his blazer - I think he might be the cutest I've ever seen him here...

And I love this little GQ pose. 

Here's to hoping that dressing him is not a total nightmare on Sunday - at least I got part of the outfit on him on camera once!