Welcome to the World Baby Court

On Wednesday, August 24th at 12:01 pm, Court Carmichael Williams entered our lives.  Four days late but completely worth waiting for!  We named him after one of the places we love, the flat where we lived in London – Augustus Court; his middle name is Scott’s middle name – a family name on Granddaddy’s side of the family.    And now, that’s makes four of us.

As for the birth story…I started having contractions around 4pm on Tuesday while on a walk with Bruno and Aiden.  I kept thinking that I would still have a day or two to notify the grandparents to get into town because the contractions were so sporadic and so far apart (and I was in labor with Aiden for 5 days).  So we put Aiden to bed, Scott and I had a huge dinner, planned everything out for going to work the next day, and just went about our normal routine.  But by 2am, the contractions were 5 minutes apart and the hospital wanted us to come in since I had to have some penicillin at least 4 hours before the baby arrived.  After calling poor Aunt Kimmie in for back-up with Aiden (Thanks again “Aunt Mimmie”) and sending word to the Grandparents to get on the road, we headed out for the hospital. And less than 24 hours later (and thankfully without an epidural), Baby Court was in our arms.  When Dr. Matkins delivered him, he said, “You have a BIG boy!”  We were shocked at his size (weighing in at almost 2 lbs heavier than Aiden) and so relieved that he was a healthy, happy baby boy.  21.5 inches long, 8 lbs 9 oz, dark blue eyes (for now), and a little bit of dark fuzzy hair – perfect.  When he first arrived, the cord was wrapped around his neck which was a little scary but he rallied quickly and gave us a big cry. I am so thrilled for Aiden to have a little brother.   Scott and I could not feel more blessed than to have two beautiful, healthy children.

This photo will help me remember why we are stopping at two kids 🙂

Court and his Pops

Court meets his Grandma Wolford

Court and Grandpa Wolford (once we were finally home)

Aiden was so sweet when he met Court. He just kept saying "baby" whenever he looked at him. He is as gentle as he can possibly be at 19 months of age with his new baby brother.

All dressed and ready to head home from the hospital. Killer boots, man.

Our family

Brothers

Athletic prowess

One of Aiden’s newest little tricks is that he jumps (or at least tries to jump) and about 10% of the time, both feet leave the ground.  Whether or not he is successful, it is pretty funny to watch him bound around trying to catch some air, especially when trying to shoot a jump shot.

For the first time today, I saw him “throw” the frisbee to Bruno how a frisbee should be thrown (or at least something similar). Granted, it goes in the wrong direction sometimes, but up until today, Aiden would just throw the frisbee down literally on top of Bruno.  So, we’re making progress.

Yoga mama

Monday night at prenatal yoga class, my instructor said I won the award for being the most pregnant lady that has ever come to her class.  Then she asked if she could take my photo because she said, “It just looks cool.”  I could only think to reply, “I guess. But, hold on, I need to at least pull my pants up.”  When your maternity clothes no longer cover your belly, you know you’re really pregnant. Just so I can laugh about this later….

Little helper

Aiden loves to “help” with anything in the house. Although sometimes, his help is actually more of a hindrance to the final product, he really tries to be of service.  He likes being given a clear direction and loves the praise he received for a job well done.  For some reason, he really likes to help with household chores…like the swiffer, for example.

This was the scene after he spilled flour all over the floor while "helping" with dinner the other night.

A weeknight getaway

On Wednesday night after work, we headed up to Lake Norman as Christi and Addi Johnson were so kind to invite us out for an evening of boating, skiing, and playtime for the kids (Addi is such a good older friend to Aiden).  We also got to hang out on the boat with their neighbors, Dan and Lindsay, and their kids, Garson and Reece.  Aiden loved all the attention that the big kids gave him and he was much more brave in the boat with them by his side.  They were so cute, tightening up his life vest and helping him climb onto the seats of the boat.  Adorable.   It was a beautiful night with a gorgeous sunset and sailboats in the background; Scott went waterskiing, I swam, and Aiden had a smile on his face the entire time. Thanks again Christi and Addi! (I just hate I didn’t get a photo of you two!!!)

Scott, Aiden, and Garson

 

 

Aiden would absolutely not take his eyes off of Scott while he was skiing!

The Big One making it look easy.

Garson and Reece bringing in the tube for the night.

 

Backpack

Aiden now has his very own backpack so he can carry all of his “stuff” to and from baby camp like the big man on campus that he thinks he is.  Basically his “stuff” consists of diapers, food from home, and incident reports (for all the times he falls and bumps his head or skins his knee).  That’s our boy!

Hanging around

Since we are Charlotte-bound until the arrival of Chuck Norris, we have been keeping busy by splashing at the pool, having a few date nights (two weeks in a row!!!), and just generally hanging out.  We also celebrated our 6 year anniversary (again – since our official dinner celebration was a few weeks ago at the Penninsula Grill in Charleston) with an anniversary lunch together at a yummy restaurant called Halcyon in Charlotte which focuses on all local growers’ produce/meat. Green and delicious!

In other news…there is no news – as far as the new baby goes.  Chuck Norris is scheduled to arrive in 5 days (yikes!).  I have always prided myself on being a decent hostess; Chuck Norris apparently agrees and is happy with life on the inside.  We’ll see if he/she is as punctual as Aiden!

John and Monica Godshall were kind enough to have us for dinner, playtime, and some outdoor fun with their sons Garrett and Luke. Thanks again for such a good evening!

Garrett is thinking: "Mom, what is this kid doing?"

Garrett again: "This kid is crazy. I'm outta here!"

What a little devil. (Taken by our favorite babysitter, Maggie)

 

The splash park at the Harris Y. We recently added Aiden to our Y membership (for a whopping 50 cents extra) to take advantage of their fabulous pool!

Chuck Norris and me in all of our glory. Scott says that I should remember this times because at least I have skinny ankles when I am 9 months pregnant!

 

 

Happy Birthday, Granny!

 

 

 

 

Sending out birthday wishes to Aiden's Great-Granny today!

 

Feeling inspired in his art hat.

 

 

 

 

 

“Hi baby”

We have less than two weeks until “Chuck Norris” (aka the new baby…named so because we are convinced that he or she is going to kick our butts upon arrival) makes his or her debut into the Williams household.  We have been doing our best to try to explain to Aiden what is going to happen.  If you ask him where the baby is, he points to my stomach.  When he names everyone in the family, he points to my stomach and says “Baby.”  He thinks my popped out belly button is hilarious and will gently pat my tummy and say cut things like “Hi baby.”  So on some level, I hope that he gets it.

Then again, the other day, when I picked him up at baby camp, the kids were all playing with baby dolls.  When Aiden saw me, he spiked his baby doll like a football and came running to me.  So, we may still have our work cut out for us.

Talking to the new baby

Hugging the baby belly

So sweet! A kiss for the baby

A sad goodbye

Sadly, one of Aiden’s friends from birth is moving away from Charlotte to San Diego.  My good friend, Dana, and her family (including son Graham) are moving in just a few days.  We went to see them for the last time on Wednesday.  It would have been really sad, except that my attention was drawn in another direction when Aiden threw about a 15 minute temper tantrum because he didn’t want to put on his shoes to walk in the muddy grass outside.  Go figure!  Anyhoo, we’ll miss you Dana, Joe, and G-man!

Dana with Graham and Aiden in the baby pool

Best of luck with the move and with the new baby!