Big Brother Class

On Saturday, we were scheduled to take Nathan to a sibling class at the hospital where Charlotte will be born. I've been looking forward to taking him to this class for a while and lucked out on the date...the next one wasn't going to be held until AFTER the baby is born. It started at 9:00, and Wayne and I wanted to have plenty of time to get there and find our room, so we wanted to leave the house at 8:15. Well, due to my "pregnancy brain" we almost missed it! Wayne has been sick, and I was supposed to wake him up at 7:50 that morning.

Nathan and I got ready, had breakfast, watched a movie, and were taking our sweet time. At 8:40, Wayne ran into the kitchen and said, "Ashley! It's 8:40!" I said, "You're up 10 minutes early, what's the big deal?" Wayne just stared at me like I was crazy, and then it hit me...the class starts in 20 minutes! I kept thinking I needed to wake Wayne up at 8:50, not 7:50. I am a complete idiot! I started crying and was so mad at myself, but Wayne threw on his clothes, and we were in the car in 5 minutes. We only went a little over the speed limit :) I can't believe it, but we were there at 9:10 and didn't miss anything! At least we know that in an emergency, we can get to the hospital in 20 minutes...if we got stopped, I was going to pretend like I was having contractions!


Nathan and "Baby Charlotte." It took him a little while to warm up to the idea of playing with a doll with these other kids, but he soon got really into it!


All of the kids got to decorate a sign to hang on the bassinet of the baby when she's in the hospital. He also glued his picture onto it, so when he sees Charlotte in the hospital nursery, he'll know that's HIS baby :)


Here he is showing his artwork to Daddy...he was very impressed!


Nathan gave Charlotte a bath and washed her with a washcloth...

Then he sawed...I mean brushed her hair :) I think I'll just give him a soft brush instead of a comb...he might have cut that poor baby doll's head.

And finally, he changed her diaper.

Then he cuddled with her while we watched a movie about babies and siblings. He really was very interested in everything the nurse showed him, and volunteered often to tell everyone that Baby Sister Charlotte was in Mommy's tummy.

At the end of the class, we went on a tour of the hospital and Nathan got to see where I would have the baby. He jumped up on this bed with one of his friends and said, "Charlotte is in my tummy!" He was so cute on the tour, and wanted to be the leader with the nurse. He didn't really care where we were, just as long as he was at the front of the line!

And then we looked at the babies in the nursery. Even though the morning started out in a stressful way, I think the class was really beneficial for Nathan. Charlotte will be here in 2 weeks, and I think this was a good way of getting him ready for it. It also made it really REAL for me! I can't believe I'm about to have a new baby!

Shower for Charlotte

My sweet, sweet friend Alison, and her mom Ellen, threw me the nicest baby shower last weekend. It was a Sunday brunch at The Prestonwood Country Club. The food was absolutely delicious, and I have to admit, I went a tad bit overboard! Everything looked so good! It was so wonderful to be able to sit, relax, and visit with all of my friends and family. Everyone was so generous and gave me and Charlotte the nicest gifts! I feel like we are totally set now!

Me with Alison and her mom. Alison and I used to live next door to each other before we moved to Frisco. But we still see each other often. She has a little girl named Lauren that Nathan ADORES! Plus she also has a 2nd baby named Trevor...I'm counting on getting lots of advice from her on how to handle two children!

Me, Mom, and Wayne's mom Helen...I keep telling them that they better have all the fun the want with their friends now because when Charlotte gets here, they are going to have to give up their social lives along with me! I'm going to need all the help I can get :)

My family: Jennifer, Grandma, me, Mom, Carrie, and Helen

Me, Meredith, and Carrie...Meredith has been our friend since college! I love that she lives here and that we are still such great friends. Nathan and her little boy, Andrew are big buddies!

Ellen, Alison, Helen, Robin, and Angela


Jennifer and Haewon...Jennifer is my neighbor, and she has a little boy named Jake who is a year older than Nathan. Nathan ADORES him, and they play together all the time. They love the same things: Cars, trains, dinosaurs, and being loud and wild! Haewon lives in my old neighborhood, but we still get together whenever we can. She also has a little boy named Reece. We have to get the boys together soon for a playdate!

Angela is holding Robin's new baby, Laurel...she is only a week old here! And I can't believe how good Robin looks...please let this be me after Charlotte is born :)

Laurel Bailey Sullivan...how sweet is she?!

I had so much fun opening all of my presents and loved every single one. Thank you so much to Alison and her mom for throwing me such a nice shower and to all of my friends and family for such nice gifts. I have so many cute outfits that I'm going to have to change her clothes several times a day so that she can wear everything!


When we got home, Carrie and I laid everything out on the dining room table for Wayne to see!

Now, all I need is the baby!

Happy Birthday Papa!

Last weekend, we celebrated my dad's birthday. My sister, Carrie, and her husband Chris, my sister, Jennifer, and her children Alexandra and Robert, all came into town. Nathan was in Heaven having so many playmates! Oh and we can't forget Otis, Carrie's bulldog! Nathan calls him his little buddy, and completely loves him.


We cooked out Saturday night and had a great dinner of fajitas...and hot dogs for the kids.


Nathan was a happy boy!

And a little mischievous...this is Alexandra's I-Phone :)

Here's our birthday boy!

Robert, Alexandra, and Nathan helped Papa inspect his present...we gave him an I-Phone for his birthday. I can't believe my dad has an I-Phone before I do!

I think Nathan approves of the present...he's probably thinking this will be a new fun toy for him! Papa, keep your phone away from him...mine has been dropped one too many times :)

Me, Baby Charlotte, and Carrie

We love our Papa!

After everyone left, the guys relaxed in the living room watching sports...Nathan will probably kill me one day for putting this picture on the blog!

Nathan loves snuggling with his daddy.

He also didn't want to go to bed, and knows as long as he is having "snuggle time" with Daddy, he's safe from me taking him away :)

Nathan is definitely a Daddy's boy!!!

Nathan and his little buddy, and Aunt Carrie...Nathan always feels like such a big boy when Otis is here. He wants to help feed him, take him outside to potty, and take him for walks. Hopefully he will be as helpful with Charlotte as he is with Otis!

4 Day Vacation with Daddy

Nathan and I got completely spoiled this last weekend. Wayne hasn't taken a personal day in a long time and decided to take off Monday and Tuesday. So we had the whole weekend together, plus an extra two days! We made those days all about Nathan! We went to the park several times, flew a kite, went to the toy store, went to the zoo, and ate dinner at Great Wolf Lodge. One thing I love is that Wayne has been taking Nathan on his runs with him. He puts Nathan in the jogging stroller and runs to a nearby park. Then the two of them play there and run back. It gives me a good hour of alone time!


On Sunday night, we went to The Great Wolf Lodge to eat dinner and walk around to see what it was like. It's a huge kid resort that is only 25 minutes away from us. The neatest part about Great Wolf is that it has an indoor water park! Nathan loved running around and exploring and watching the kids play in the water. We think we'll go back for Nathan's 3rd birthday to spend the night and try out the water park.

On Monday morning, Wayne took Nathan on a run and to the park while I got ready and packed a picnic lunch for us. Then we drove to the Ft. Worth zoo. It was a perfect day because it was cloudy and not too hot. Nathan was so excited to see all of the animals! We took the stroller in to carry our stuff, but Nathan just ran around on his own. I loved seeing him having so much fun!


Looking at the gorillas.


The monkeys were Nathan's favorites, especially these. They were so playful and would swing from one vine to another and knock each off of the vines or rocks!

After watching the monkeys, Nathan pretended to be one the whole rest of the day! He would climb onto benches and jump off or just run around making the "ooh ooh, ahh ahh" noises :)

This is where Nathan climbed into one of those photo booths :)

Peek-a-boo!

This was my favorite part. We went into this bird area where you buy a stick of bird seed and feed the birds that are flying around you.

Nathan loved feeding the birdies, and would be so happy when one would fly onto the stick :)

After seeing all of the animals, we had a great lunch and then headed home. Nathan was exhausted and was asleep in the car before we got onto the highway...which meant his nap that day was a car nap. I tried to lay him down in his room when we got home so that Wayne and I could have our own naps, but Nathan woke up and was ready to do something else!

We had so much fun having Daddy all to ourselves, and we were both sad when Tuesday was over. Nathan probably thinks I'm completely boring now that it's just me with him :)