Carolina Girls

We have been BUSY over the past few weeks (which should explain the lack of blogging, picture-taking, etc.).  I have been in a complex tax fraud trial that lasted 4 weeks (and Judge Whitney ran court from 8:30-6 every day); Patrick has had lots of closings (yay); and Anne Louise has been spending her time reading the dictionary (not really, but her vocabulary is out of control).  So, since I can’t go back and “fake” the blogs from all of our big events, I thought I’d just post some pictures.  At least one BIG EVENT merits some attention – we found out that Baby #2 (aka Herbie Jr. in our house) is a GIRL!!  I am trying to convince Patrick to get his license plate changed to “LadiesMan,” but he’s not going for that.  We are both THRILLED that this is a girl.  Although plenty of people seemed to have opinions about wanting 1 of each (a boy and a girl), neither of us cared.  We had reasons why we wanted a girl (I’m a BIG fan of sisters, and both of us have some practice with a baby girl) and reasons why we wanted a boy (so Patrick wouldn’t be the lone male in my immediate family and so he could have a hunting/fishing/sports buddy).  Because we didn’t have a preference either way, it made it all the more exciting to find out that Anne Louise is going to have a baby sister.  Plus, if Patrick learned one thing from my dad, its that having girls doesn’t mean you can’t buy camo (although they may not wear it) or take them fishing (but the dad has to take the fish off the hook) or hunting (preferably not sitting in a deer stand having to be still for hours upon hours).  Anyway, I digress.  We are SUPER excited about our little girl and can’t wait to meet her in September.  The picture above is due to Patrick working his magic with Joyce, our favorite ultrasound tech.  She had originally written “Toe” and “Heel,” but Patrick convinced her to write “Tar” and “Heel.”  Apparently, this was not the first time someone asked her to do that.  Here is one of her profile (we think she has the same nose as Anne Louise).  Speaking of Tarheels, Anne Louise had her first visit to Chapel Hill.  It was a family day trip for the Blue/White Spring game, and we met my cousin Marcus (who used to play Offensive Line at Carolina and is now an investigator with the NCAA) in Chapel Hill.  It was a beautiful day, and we really enjoyed drinks at Top of the Hill, lunch at Suttons Drug Store, and walking around Franklin Street and campus.  We also managed to do some tailgating and watch football, too.  Another weekend adventure was our anniversary trip to Pinehurst.  Caroline gust blogged about her time with Anne Louise, but Patrick and I haven’t posted anything about OUR trip yet.  It was SUCH a special time.  First, Patrick had coordinated with Judge Whitney and surprised me at work at 10:30 in the morning with TWO DOZEN ROSES!!  I was speechless!  I had already packed for the undisclosed location, so he whisked me away from work and as soon as we got home, we hit the road.  Pinehurst was WONDERFUL!  We stayed in this unbelievable cottage thanks to a friend of Patrick’s and had a LUSCIOUS dinner at 1895 Grill at the Pinehurst Resort.  The highlight of dinner (for me at least) was the Triple Chocolate Suffle.  DIVINE!!  Saturday, we had brunch in the Carolina Room (one of my favorite brunches EVER).  Patrick hit the golf course, while I headed to the spa.  Patrick had made reservations for me to have the “Stork Package,” which consisted of a maternity massage, spa pedicure, and facial.  It was AWESOME and super relaxing.  For dinner, we talked our way into this fabulous Italian place (and I mean literally “talked our way into” because they were not seating anyone that night who didn’t have reservations).  Sunday, we had a good ol’ country breakfast at the Track House restaurant, which is actually on the horse track.  The whole weekend was SO great and SO memorable.  I cannot believe we’ve been married FIVE YEARS – it has FLOWN by.  I am so grateful to God for my precious husband!!  We didn’t take a lot of pictures, but here are a few!   In between our trips to Chapel Hill and Pinehurst, we’ve had lots going on in town, too!  We had a great family dinner with Joan, Kris, and Caroline after spending the day with everyone at the Wachovia Quail Hollow Championship.  We have spent an afternoon at the boat, had dinner with neighbors, and spent a weekend at the mountains with Mama/Nana . . . . Unfortunately, we didn’t take any pictures of these fun events!  But we have been busy having fun together and having fun with others.

A post JUST on Anne Louise is coming.  She’s at SUCH a cute age right now, and I cannot even begin to recap all the words she knows and all the things she does.  I will, however, try to get a post together to record these memories SOON (and we will include pictures, too, Grandi, because I know you’ve been wanting some of those).  In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this adorably hideous picture of Anne Louise.  You see, while I was in trial, Patrick picked up ALOT of slack in getting Anne Louise ready for school in the morning and picking her up from school, feeding her, bathing her, and getting her bed at night (sometimes I would not get home well after her bed time).  His love and care for her was AMAZING, and it was such a treat to see how much pride he took in taking care of her.  I will say, however, that some mornings I left too early to pick out her clothes.  Here is a picture of one such morning.  I was appalled when I picked her up  at school, and apparently, her outfit had been the talk of the teachers (ALL OF THEM) all day.  The top and shorts do not even remotely match.  Bless His (and Her) Heart – he tried!