Surprise trip to the Southeast

So Emma Kate and I were home for about 2 weeks when I found out that my grandmother was really sick. A few days after that she passed away and so Matt, Emma Kate and I went back to AL/KY for the funeral. It was a beautiful service and God was glorified through it all. I enjoyed getting to see some of my extended family that I haven't seen in YEARS!!!! Matt, Emma Kate and I also got to spend a few days with his family in Birmingham. It was a bittersweet trip in saying goodbye to my grandmother and hello again to all the family that I haven't seen in so long! Here are some pictures from the trip.

Mom with her twin sister Brenda and Brother Buck

Nelson and Sarah were able to come back from Russia and make it to the funeral

I want to thank Uncle Elton and Aunt Sue for coming to the funeral. It was wonderful to see them and to feel their support.

Once we got to Birmingham Emma Kate spent most of her time in her diaper because she loved playing in the pool that Gran-Gran and Daddy Steve have

Nelson sporting his Russian attire

I know, I know...it's been a while

I am so sorry to everyone. We were out of town for a few weeks but there is still no excuses. I am going to just throw a bunch of pictures up here. We had such a good time in Birmingham and Louisiana and enjoyed getting to see so many of our friends. Since we have been back it has been getting hotter. We have been swimming with some friends a little bit and trying to cool off in the sprinklers. Thanks to everyone for such a wonderful visit back home.

Before we left we got a new grill and Emma Kate read Daddy the instructions in Spanish!

Here we are in the Atlanta airport. Emma Kate is a great traveler and this was her 5th trip to the southeast since she was born. Now that she is walking we like the parts of the airport where she can walk and not get trampled. I got food poisoning the night before we flew and so I was especially grateful that we found this open space for her to get some energy out and watch the planes.

Abbey's baby shower was great and it was so much fun to see everyone. Jan especially loved the fun pens that we used to write Abbey some encouraging notes.Emma Kate enjoying the greenness at churchEmma Kate enjoys her time at Gran-Gran's and Daddy Steve's. She loves the wagon and the garden but more importantly she loves the attention and love they shower upon her. We both enjoyed our time with them.We were able to drive down to Montgomery with Abbey and Baxter to see Pappa and Helen. We had a good visit and wish we could have stayed longer. Gigi is in heaven with both of her grand kids! We wish we could have spent more time with Gigi, Nelson and Sarah. We know that they are having a blast in Russia and look forward to seeing them when we can. Our road trip to Shreveport (no, the did not ride like this the whole way, but they were troopers for 8 hours in the car!)

Abbey and Warren are so lucky to have a great neighborhood with some fabulous parks within walking distance. Emma Kate really flourished on the playgrounds and I am blessed as a Mother to see my baby turning into a little girl. During this trip I have seen some definite changes in her personality and I am so proud of how God is guiding Matt and I to shape her into such a caring little girl.You can't go to LA and not have crawfish!
Emma Kate is giving her loving goodbyes to Baxter. It will probably be awhile before we see Baxter and we are so thankful to Abbey and Warren for letting us spend so much quality time with them!

After we got back from our trip we went to park and enjoyed some time with Matt who we had not seen in over two weeks! Emma Kate was especially excited to see her Daddy and then her dawg (Ashton)!
It is starting to get hot and so cooling off is a must! Yeah sprinklers!

It's A ....

We had our ultrasound yesterday and found out that we are expecting a boy! We are very excited and blessed for he is healthy and everything looks great! We were so excited we went for ice cream after the appointment (Emma Kate especially liked that part). The rest of the pictures are from the last couple of weeks. Gran-Gran and Daddy Steve came to visit for a few days and we had so much fun! We went to Las Vegas last weekend and we all went swimming

Emma Kate giving her best monkey face

Baxter has arrived!

We are so excited to tell everyone that Baxter Warren Carroll has arrived into this world! He was born on Thursday, April 17 at 12:35 pm. He is 6 pounds 12 ounces and 19 inches long. He is so handsome! Abbey and Warren are both doing well and are already superb parents. I am posting a picture of the happy family and their blog is on our list of favorites (the carrolls, http://www.thecarrollcamp.blogspot.com/) on which there are many more pictures. We look forward to meeting Baxter in person but until then we will definitely need lots of pictures!

First Tooth!

We had a busy week last week as Emma Kate is FINALLY getting her first tooth. She is a trooper although the tooth seems to be getting the better of her quite often. She is just not her usual happy self, decreased appetite, mild fever, etc. Hopefully things will go back to normal soon. While her tooth has been coming in we have been to the play gym with our friends Bryan and Michael and also to the Yuma county fair. Emma Kate enjoys the play gym and is just now old enough to start enjoying all the fun things to do (trampoline, play mats, huge bouncy balls).



Our trip to the fair was fun! It was Emma Kate's first time to see animals (besides dogs and cats) up close. They were a little big in her opinion and she wanted to call all of them "dog". So we have since been working on all the names of the animals that we saw at the fair. At the fair there was the Budweiser clydesdales and they were very big horses. We also went to an auction where they sell off all the animals that were shown at the fair. When I get a good picture of the tooth coming in I will be sure to post.