Washing the Car

Harriet, sweet Harriet

For nearly 3 years, our home was graced by the presence of Harriet, the foster Beagle.  She came to us on a hot day in June of 2009. We found her near death underneath a friend's car in our driveway. She was infested, infected,  raw and swollen. We never thought she'd live...but she did! With the help of The Shamrock Pet Foundation and Dr. Garrity at the Downtown Animal Hospital in Louisiville, Harriet's health returned but she was still clearly an aged senior and not highly adoptable. So she lived with us and we gave her as much comfort, food and prednisone as we could to keep her feeling like a pup for as long as possible. She had her bad habits, licking the floor incessantly being the most annoying, but she was a sweet little old lady and I look back on the time she lived here with fondness. We're glad that when her time came, she was able to go without assistance while laying on her cozy bed at home.  She died late morning on Wednesday, April 11, 2012. We scattered her ashes in the woods she used to roam, underneath some white flowering dogwoods. Goodbye sweet Harriet.

Happy Easter

 Curtis joined us at Grandma and Grandpa's, after we got back from Macon, for Easter weekend! Here we are dressed up for church on Sunday. It was a little cool and breezy, but nice.

 Curtis' amazing dessert for Easter lunch with his family, Banana Nutter Butter Trifle. Soooo yummy!

 One of Abram's Easter baskets with the Cunningham/Wagners.

 It's like another Christmas!

 First Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's house. There were only 12 eggs and his only competition was Harriet...who was banned from the yard after we discovered she was hunting eggs too! (see video, around 1:35 she flops down to gnaw an egg)

 After the first couple of eggs Abram really got into it! He started trying to open them when one popped open by accident. He still didn't realize he was finding candy.

 But he really enjoyed putting eggs in the basket!

He got a soccer ball in a basket Grandpa picked out for him and Grandpa also made him his very own walking stick, which he LOVES, as you can see in the video!

Macon, GA Trip

 Over my mom's spring break, Abram and I flew with her to Macon, Georgia for a little mini-vacation. We stayed with my Aunt Jeanne (mom's sister) and Uncle John in their new house. Abram and I were also able to visit several times with my old co-worker, Steven DeGeorge and his wife Lauren and their little boy SteveO. SteveO and Abram were due about 2 weeks apart but then SteveO was born very early on November 10th. It was so great to see everyone and I wish we could have stayed and visited longer!

Our flight from Indianapolis to Atlanta was at 6:00...which means we had to leave my parents house at 3:15 AM...I don't think Abram really knew what was happening. I was so nervous about flying with a 14 month old, but he did really well! We managed to keep him entertained with snacks and an IPad!.

 He also loved the window seat! He was fascinated by all the activity on the tarmac.

We played on a nearby playground ....Abram loves to slide!

 Lauren, Abram, SteveO and Steven at Lauren's parents house.

 Abram and my Aunt Jeanne on their beautiful screened back porch. We spent a lot of time out there reading! Mom and I both read the first book of The Hunger Games (and I've since finished the trilogy...wouldn't say I enjoyed them, but I had to know what was going to happen).

 These boys are too young to "play together", but I at least got a picture of them passing by!

 Abram did AWESOME at Ruby Tuesdays! Like night and day from our last visit to a RT's...when he screeched like a banshee and there were cracker crumbs everywhere! THIS time he ate, colored, played by the window and was very pleasant!

 We got to visit two of Jeanne and John's kids (and their wives and children) that live between Atlanta and Macon. I hadn't seen them since I was about a month or two pregnant, so that was fun to see Abram interact with his second cousins and see the other new babies.

 Most of the second cousins are girls...Abram did a lot of watching. He did really like Emily, the oldest of the girls (knee visible on left) and kept tackling her! haha

Last day of our trip we stopped at a Denny's Diner for lunch. Yum!

 Before our flight home we stopped at a place called "Noah's Ark" that had a lot of animals on display. We didn't have time to do the long walk to see all the animals but we saw a few of the ones close to the parking lot. Abram liked the tortoises.

I took about 10 pictures of the peacocks! They are just such pretty birds!

We bought a monkey "backpack" before the trip and it was great! Abram walked through the Indianapolis and Atlanta airports and was such a trooper! He loved the escalators and "moving walkways". It was great not having to push a stroller.  I had made a bag for his car seat which hooked over my carry on suit case and checked  it at the gates. I was so pleased with how the entire trip went and I'm so proud of Abram!