:: take me out to the ballgame...again

except this time, it was the greenville drive, and not the simpsonville bandits...haha!

we went to the drive game last night with amy and russ. it was really fun! the stadium is super nice...it's a mini fenway park since the drive is the south atlantic affiliate of the boston red sox. it has the green monster and everything...so cool!


so anyways, scout wasn't real impressed as you can tell. she slept her way through all but about 1/2 an inning. haha! but i think she enjoyed the new sites, sounds, and the smell of popcorn and beer...well, maybe not the beer. bud light can really smell like a sewer...hahaha!

:: "i luv my wubbanub!" - scout

here's scout's latest toy...the wubbanub!! compliments of aunt lindsay! haha!!
i think scout is confused by it because it's big enough to be a bottle...and when i give it to her, she just chews on the pacifier...HAHAHA!! but she holds onto the little frog and it is just too cute!!! thanks, lindsay, for a flippin' sweet gift!! :)

:: goodbye blue merle :(

this is something that i was afraid was in the works, but i just found out that it did, indeed, happen.

blue merle has disbanded.

waaaaaaaaah!!

it's unfortunate that they had such a short run. they had HUGE potential!! but apparently had a bad manager or something that just went wrong for them. they even had some tv appearances...the early show, jimmy kimmel live. they may have had more, but that's all i knew of. so it seemed, last summer, that they were about to take off. but i guess they never really got off the ground. boohooey! we went to see them in asheville at the orange peel...then went to see them again at the handlebar in greenville. both times, they put on a great show. they're a lot of fun to watch and i really hate i'll never go to another blue merle show, but i'm glad that i atleast got to see them...and see them twice!

get their cd if you don't already have it. i promise, you won't be disappointed!! you can even download a live show for FREE on their website...http://www.bluemerle.com/main.html

here are some "in memory" pics (hahaha!!) from the orange peel-may 17, 2005...

waiting for the show to start...


luke reynolds


this is actually The Shore's playlist, but it's still a cool picture, i think...haha


luke reynolds again


jammin'

:: to ma + papa's house we go!

matt had the day off today, so we went and had lunch with ma and papa (for those of you who don't know, they are matt's grandparents) they hadn't seen scout in a while, so we took her over for a visit. she had about a 15 minute laughing fit...it was so funny!! papa loved entertaining her and had her laughing hysterically! haha! and ma carried on a conversation with her...scout was cooing and "ahhing" at ma...it was so cute!! ma cooked a rockin' lunch! cube steak w/ gravy, rice, green beans, salad, rolls, and a lemon cake to top it all off! it was soooo good!! scout had to settle for yummy enfamil, with gas drops for dessert, but she didn't seem to mind...hahaha!

:: take me out to the ballgame

we got to go to kaylee's softball game tonight! it was so much fun! those little girls are all just SOOO cute!! it was very entertaining and i was so impressed to see how quickly kaylee has learned all the basics! she's a natural! she hit every time she got up to bat! it was awesome! although, we got there too late and only got to see one of her hits, but it was a GREAT one!! it was scout's first "outdoor activity", other than going for walks outside in her stroller. she had a grand ol' time...slept through the whole thing. haha!! here are some pics of the evening...

"run, kaylee! run!!"


gettin' ready to head home!


and she scores!!! (that's stephen's rear incase you're wondering...haha) she has GREAT running form, do you think??


anticipating that next infield fly...ummmm, kaylee, dear? you might want to turn around!! HAHA!


sunny...kicked back and cheering on her big sister


me, mommer, and scout enjoying the game


the happy smith family...plus one carter...haha


sunny's post-game chow time


gatorade lip!


oh that sisterly love!!

:: good friday

----------------------
"Christ's love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love." Ephesians 3:19


It wasn't right that spikes pierced the hands that formed the earth. And it wasn't right that the Son of God was forced to hear the silence of God.

It wasn't right, but it happened.

For while Jesus was on the cross, God sat on his hands. He turned his back. He ignored the screams of the innocent.

He sat in silence while the sins of the world were placed upon his Son. And he did nothing while a cry a million times bloodier than John's echoed in the black sky: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Was it right? No.
Was it fair? No.
Was it love? Yes.

--excerpt from "The Applause of Heaven" by Max Lucado--
-------------------

this part of the easter message has a whole new meaning for me this year. the relationship of God and Jesus. of course, i've known this all of my life, but it wasn't until now that this has truly been put in perspective for me. of course, i've never seen (and hopefully never will) Scout in the pain and agony that Jesus was on that day, but just the fact that she is my daughter...she is mine. i can't imagine giving her up and turning my back on her as God did that day. i can't imagine what it must have been like for him. it wasn't right...but it gives me a deeper understanding of the love he has for me...his child.

:: this day in 1981

today is lindsay's 25th bday...what a young'un!!

you'll remember lindsay from last year's "upward duck pond/jeff gordon bday party" post.

click here to reminisce

so happy birthday, my pal! and welcome to your "mid-to-late twenties"!! HAHA!

:: time to bust up da flabby

after much deliberation, prayer, and pondering we finally made a purchase today. since going to the gym is out of the question for me now, (babies aren't safe hangin' out in gyms with treadmills and large amounts of weights that could do some harm to an itty bitty body) and matt has turned over a new leaf and is wanting to start weight training, we decided to make a purchase. initially, we wanted a Precor® elliptical...i got hooked on working out on one of those in st louis at the gym at our apt complex. it whooped my tail, but i stuck with it and i know it helped me keep a lot of poundage off during my pregnancy that i would have otherwise acquired. but, when looking into purchasing one, we quickly found that they can really cost some major dough. with baby on the way, and lots of bills to consider, we backed off from getting one right off. so now, we figured, we can get our cardio from walking/running outside, but we need some weight training assistance. and that's where the home gym came into play. matt researched and checked into several options. we pondered the purchase several weeks and today we finally settled on a gym...the Precor® Zuma. it'll be here monday...whee! so watch out...the carters are getting ready to get pumped up!! so, thanks for all of this "i just had a baby" flabby, scout, but i must get rid of it...and get rid of it pronto!! haha!

:: more than a cold :(

welp, turns out scout's "baby head cold" was more than just a cold. it progressed into RSV. (yes, i'm really behind on updating my bloggo, thus this is really old news now...but one day, i will print my blog, compile the pages, and have a record of our life happenings, so you must bear with me as i bore you with this "journal entry"...)

so yeah, by sunday night (apr 2), scout's respirations were 95 and she had a temp of 100.4. the doctor said on friday to call if her resps got above 60 and/or her temp was 100.4. so we called, and the nurse on call said to take her straight to the ER and for us to pack our bags because she was sure they would admit us because of scout's fever. sure enough, after several eventful hours in the ER we were admitted. time spent in the ER sucked...just royally sucked. scout had to have blood drawn, shunts put in her arm for antibiotics, and the poor kid had to have a spinal tap. UGH! it killed us. we did NOT stick around to witness either of those events...we opted to wait in the hall, but it's funny how those curtains don't mask the screams. oh, it was just horrible. okay, i gotta move on...can't dwell on that any longer...

here's a happy scout pic...a couple days later and no more pricks from docs and nurses. just havin' fun chillin' in her hospital bed and being waited on hand and foot!


she stayed in the hospital until wed (apr 5)...which ironically was her one month "birthday". she got several rounds of antibiotics and was on oxygen until tuesday morning. she did great when they took her off of it. she looked great pretty much the entire time. you would never know she was sick from just looking at her...she was quite the trooper...and is just, honestly, a good baby. thank you, Lord!! :)


so it was good to get home with her. we were told at the hospital that we couldn't take her anywhere for another month. quarantined AGAIN...ugh! but!! today she had a check up and the dr said we could take her out...just no crowds and no "stranger" children. haha! we also have to just be really careful with her for the next several weeks. she still has a cough that's pretty rough. poor thang! but she's on the mend and we are just SO glad!!

thanks to everyone who lifted her up in prayer last week! oh, i can't tell you how much it means to us!!

okay, it is now 1:00am...matt is snoring on the couch, and scout is snoring in her room. her 3 hr feeding interval will roll back around at 2:00am, so it'd be nice to get an hour or so of sleep before her little clock kicks in...the clock that tells her to whimper and cry until mom comes and hooks her up with mr. enfamil. haha! hopefully, she'll go a little longer than 3 hrs. "come on, scout..let's shoot for 5 tonight...you can do it!!" haha!

peace out and good night! :)

:: Scout has a cold :(

poor Scout...
she's been in the world all of 4 weeks, and she already has a stupid cold. i guess that's easy to achieve when both of your parentals have both had colds in the past 2 weeks. poor little lamb...(to quote dennis the menace...haha)

i took her to the doctor yesterday after she spent the entire night sounding like a freight train when she was sleeping...she sounded so pitiful.

the diagnosis: baby head cold

the remedy: saline nose drops and the wondrous bulb aspirator


so that has been our pastime for the past 2 days. lucky for me, she doesn't mind the bulb aspirator too much...she doesn't even wake up when i do it when she's asleep...amazing! sleeps as sound as her daddy...like a log.

AubreyScoutCarter

All of the...
waiting
planning
dr visits
vitamins
big ol' clothes
reading preggo books
feeling baby kicks
wondering what she looks like

...it's all over, and it was all worth it!! WHOOHOO!!


Scout arrived Sunday, March 5, 2006 at 3:32pm. She weighed in at 7 lb 6 oz and was 20 inches long.
It was SUCH an unbelievable experience, and now we finally understand why it is something that cannot be explained...but only experienced. This first week with Scout has been unbelievable. Matt and I keep saying that we feel like we have to take her "back" at somepoint, or that her rightful owners will come pick her up. Haha! It just doesn't seem real that she is ours...that she is a part of us. She's an amazing miracle and blessing from a loving God.

She is so laid back! We both had some of that to offer her...mostly Matt, but I have some in me too...haha! She hardly ever cries...just eats, sleeps, and chills...but then again, she has just been in the world for a week...haha!



Okay, on to the play by play of last weekend...

Friday - March 3, 2006

I had a doctor's appt that morning to check on the "happenings". Come to find out, nothing had really happened in almost 2 weeks. I was still 1-2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. So to "help" things out a bit, the doctor stripped my membranes...and yes, that does hurt even more badly than it sounds...hahaha!

Saturday - March 4, 2006 (the actual due date)

Matt had the day off (YAY!) so we just spent part of the day riding out in the country...trying to find some bumpy roads to pop out the baby...haha! We packed the car for the hospital before we left...JUST incase! Haha! It was GORGEOUS outside! We looked around at some shops for a rocking chair for Scout's room, but didn't have any luck. I was feeling what i was pretty sure was contractions by mid to late afternoon. Dinner time rolled around, so we ate at Cheeseburger in Paradise. I was feeling some pretty uncomfortable contractions while we were there...but still not in pain...just uncomfortable. Haha! Matt started timing them while we were in there...3 of them were 7 minutes apart...but then they would subside for a long while. Matt made the comment, "It would be just like us to have a baby at Cheeseburger in Paradise!" HAHA!

We came home and just chilled...I knew the contractions were progressively getting more uncomfortable, but I really wasn't expecting anything throughout the night...I guess since I had never "been there, done that", I just didn't know what to expect.
Around 1:00am, I woke up feeling pretty uncomfortable. I took a shower, and laid down on the couch for a while to watch tv. I was kinda scared to go back to sleep because I didn't want to "miss" something...haha! I still wasn't in pain. The doctor stressed to us..."don't come to the hospital until your contractions are very painful and are 4 min apart for a solid hour". I kept this in mind as I did not want to arrive at the hospital and be sent home, or have the baby 24 hrs later...haha! So, I went back to bed, fell asleep, and woke up again around 3:30am. Ouch! "Okay, Matt wake up...they're started to HURT!" Haha! We timed them..still not 4 min apart though...they were sporatic and around 5 min apart. Matt got up and got everything ready...I told him, "Let's just wait a while longer...until they're 4 min" We were both getting a little anxious at this point, but we were deadset on not going until we were supposed to. We hung out in the den watching tv. I kept getting up and walking...that seemed to help the pressure. We finally timed contractions for an hour that were 4 min apart...except 2 that were 10 min apart. But after those, there were 3 that were 4 min apart, that hurt like a mug!! So I said, "LET'S GO!!" HAHA!

So off we went! It was a painful ride...I only cried once. Haha! We were admitted around 5:00-5:30. We had decided (and heeded advice from friends) not to call family or anyone until we were actually admitted. This would ensure that no one had to get up at an ungodly time incase I was sent back home and told to wait it out. But thank goodness, we were not told that. The nurse said we timed it perfect...that it couldn't have been any better. YAY! We did it! Haha!


The nurse called the dr and he ordered pitocin which would help speed things up a bit. I was 4-5 cm at this point, and completely effaced. Our moms and dads, Angela (Matt's sister) and Jocelyn (our awesome friend that was our official videographer and photographer) arrived on the scene, I think around 8:00am. They were all so excited. I think I had the epidural at this point. I can't remember. But I do remember that it hurt like crazy when I did get it! I did cry then, and I cried a lot!! Haha! But after it kicked in, I felt like a new woman! Haha! Ralph decided to head to church and preach both services, after the nurse said nothing exciting would probably happen until he got back...haha!

Ma and Papa (Matt's grandparents), Teresa (Matt's aunt), Stephen and Holly (my brother and sister-in-law), Carey and Jack (my aunt and uncle), and Amy and Russ (our best good friends) arrived and we all just hung out until the dr came in again to "check out the happenings".

jocelyn...waiting to capture the "action"!


hangin' out until it's "time"!





Well, he checked them and I was fully effaced and fully dilated!! It was 2:40pm and it was time to PUSH!! So everyone headed out to the waiting room except for Matt and Jocelyn.



Pushing was SO hard. I didn't feel like I was really doing anything to help things along, but Matt and the nurse assured me that I was. At 3:32pm, out pops Scout!!! YAHOOEY!!! I can't explain all of the emotions that rushed through me. I didn't know whether to cry or laugh...so I just did a lot of both! Haha! It was freakin' amazing!

Scout had a temp of 102.9 and so did I. But it wasn't long before it came down and all was well. They wiped her off and wrapped her up and Matt and I held her and just couldn't believe that she was here. Thank you, Lord!!







Okay, I am going to FINALLY post this since I am now FOUR weeks behind. My new strategy for keeping up with this is updating it every week (we'll see if that happens...haha)! So stay tuned! HAHA!

March 4 - Scout is due TODAY!

well, i can REALLY get behind on blogging again. we made it back safe and sound from st louey, and it is SO good to be home.
matt is the general manager at the chick-fil-a at haywood mall, and it is going GREAT! a breath of fresh air compared to the crapola he dealt with in lou-town. i went back to work at upward for 3 weeks...now i've been on maternity leave since this past monday. scout is due today!!! i've been having some contractions today, but nothing worth timing or getting all worked up about. so we're just waiting...waiting...waiting...haha! we're SO excited about meeting her! i had a pretty easy pregancy, but at this point, i'm ready for her to get herself on outta there so i can function like a somewhat normal human again. haha!

i have some pictures to share from our trip back, so here they are...

here we are right before we headed out. lookin' a little plump there, carla. yet, another reason i'm ready to pop this baby out! HAHA!


here's the E all packed up and ready to go! we were packed to the GILLS!!! HA!



bye-bye camden cove! :)


plotting our course...HOME!


we stopped for the night in nashville and met up with josh, heidi and ruby! it was great to see them! zeb is in nashville too at MTSU, so we all went out for dinner. that was fun and good! PIZZA!! we spent the night with zeb and his grandparents. they are the neatest people! they were missionaries in peru for 10 years when zeb's dad was a little boy. it was so fun hearing all of their stories and the cool things that God used them to do over there. zeb's g-pa is an unbelievable painter. he took us around their house that is pretty much an art gallery...FULL of all of the paintings he has done over the years. most of peruvians...they are awesome! he is 83 yrs old and STILL painting! they are VERY involved in their church...a spanish church...and God continues to use them there! they were VERY inspiring people!!!

here's one of the MANY paintings...this is one of my favorites!


here's a group shot before we headed out. there's zebbie in the middle with his monstrous beard! haha! and mr and mrs chamlee on the right.


WE MADE IT!!!



welp, that's about it. it was a great trip! no troubles along the way...that was a good thing considering the 8 month preggo in the car! HAHA! it's so good to be home! we're back to apartment living for a while until we know what chick-fil-a is going to do with us next. but one thing at a time...we've got a baby to birf fo now! hopefully, my next post will be pictures of scout!! we'll keep you posted!

peace out,
carla