My girls...

I sat down at my computer to write Charlotte's 1st birthday letter (which is tomorrow, by the way) while both girls are upstairs having nap time.  Well - one is yelling "mama, mama, mommy"and then counting to 20 to see if I come quickly enough for her, and the other is kicking the wall through her crib slats and shrieking.  Guess I will do it later!  This pic was in my draft folder from this summer, and it is one of my all time favs!  I'll be back with a birthday letter soon - hopefully tonight when everyone is sleeping!

Eleven Months!

Charlotte Grace,
You are 11 months old!  I ordered invitations for your 1st Birthday today -  I don't know how this happened! Time is just racing these days!

You have turned into such a big girl the past two months.  You speed crawl around the house after your sister, and you are cruising around constantly, too!  Last week, you started letting go for several seconds at a time.  You are also a little monkey!  You climb anything you can hoist yourself up on to.  If I turn my back for a second, you are standing in a chair or on top of the kids table in the playroom.  You also love to climb the stairs and do a little happy scream anytime you discover the babygate is left off! 

You are wearing size 18 month clothes and size 3 shoes. 

Sadly for me, you are still not sleeping all night.  A quick visit from me and a couple ounces of milk make you really happy and ready to go right back to sleep.  Without that, you cry yourself into heaves.  

We have had some quality time together since Annabelle started morning preschool several days a week.  You are a great little buddy for errand running, and you love to meet daddy for lunch once in a while!

You love to play with toys and are so happy to entertain yourself as long as you can crawl over for a snuggle every so often. 

You love to give kisses and loving.  You say "loving" and pat our backs so sweetly.  The funnest thing you do these days is say "gentle" while you pat our face really hard.  This started because you would pat my face hard, and I would take your hard and do it softly while saying "gentle".  Now you just say gentle, wack our faces, and laugh.  Little stinker!

Words so far (that we can understand, but really not anyone else!): mama, dada, ah-ba (annabelle), gentle, loving, doggy, diaper, nana, grandad, lola, ba-ba (bottle).

Favorites:board books, food (pretty much everything!), baths, kisses, swinging, being held, climbing, drinking from a straw, playing with your sister.

We love, love, love you!

Nine months...

It has been a while!  I have been terrible about updating, and I really love reading back about what the girls were doing, so I am going to aim for once a week or so.  Our laptop crashed several months ago, and I am just not inclined to go sit upstairs at our old desktop in the office to write. So first a Charlotte update, and then hopefully a catch up post!

Charlotte Grace - You are nine months old and getting so big! 

 

You are about 21 pounds, and you are wearing 12 month cloths and size 3 diapers. You have zero teeth.

You are such a happy baby... easy to please, fairly predictable (except in the night), and super smiley. 

You started crawling a couple of days after you turned seven months, and there has been no stopping you since that day.  You crawl, pull up, climb up, climb over, and stand as long as you have something to help you balance. You keep all three of us on our toes every minute that you are awake!  You are into EVERYTHING.  You disappear in seconds and follow your sister's every step.  I spend at least half the day relocating you to a safe play space... there is just no keeping you in one spot.  You favorite things to make a break for include the bathroom, open doors, dog water bowl, open washer or dryer, and sister's dollhouse.  Honestly, the words that comes to mind right now when I think of you are curious and BUSY!

You love food and feeding yourself.  You started protesting baby food several weeks ago, and since then you have mostly been eating what we eat.  You will eat from the spoon occasionally, but you are so fast about grabbing it and holding on for dear life, that you mostly do finger food.  I haven't found anything yet that you won't eat.  Favorites include: bananas, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, green beans, broccoli, squash, yogurt, cottage cheese, turkey, ham, cheddar, cheerios, bagel, pasta, black beans, tortillas, and chicken noodle soup.

This week we started putting you to bed earlier hoping it might you sleep a little better and longer.  You go down at about 6:30.  On good nights you get up once to eat at 4ish, and sleep again until about 6:00. You have had a rough time with waking frequently this month. You do take two naps each day - a long morning nap and shorter afternoon nap.  

 

(Annabelle's strategy for trying to play without you eating her toys!)

You have learned to say mama and dada, and you say baba sometimes for Annabelle. You have also learned to give kisses... big slobbery "eat your nose" type kisses.

You love... the water - baths and pools, the dogs, swinging, being tickled, playing outside, riding in the stroller, snuggles, and being down to explore! 

 And we....love you!

Seven Months...

Charlotte Grace,

You are seven months old! I am having a little bit of trouble accepting that we are past the half way mark to a year.  In just a blink, you have become a mobile baby with a precious and hilarious little personality!  I can't even imagine our family without you in it.  We needed you, Gracie!

 

- You weigh about 19 lbs and are wearing mostly 12 month clothes/size 3 diapers.

- You have been saying "mama", and I love it!!!  Also, lots of jabber and raspberries.

- You are on the move big time!  You do this funny crawl, crawl, scoot motion over and over, and you can make it around the room in seconds!  You also put everything in your mouth... everything!  Your sister did not do this, so we are in new territory trying to keep your path clear of any small toy, shoe, remote, etc. 

- You are sleeping great at night as long as you are feeling good. You go to bed around 7, wake to eat between 4 and 5, and then snoozed for another hour or two.  Some days you take good naps and on others you are awake after 20 minutes. 

- Baby Foods:  Applesauce, bananas, pears, peaches, peas, green beans, sweet potato, squash, carrots, yogurt, avocado.  Finger Foods:  waffle, peas, puffs, pasta, bagel, banana

- Favorites: swinging, exersaucer, playing on the floor, ice water out of sippy cup, yogurt, going on walks, being outside, and your sister, peak-a-boo!

During your first few months, we thought that you might just be the most laid back baby ever.  Over the last two months, you have been super relaxed until you need something or get mad and then you get furious in seconds.  I think you just wait until you really mean it to start fussing!

You are starting to want to be where your sister is at all times.  Annabelle loves to sing "how much is that doggy in the window" to you, and you crack up on the "arf, arf" part every single time. She loves you "to the moon and back" as she says (although sometimes the loving is a little too rough), and she is trying really hard to share toys well!  Anytime you cry, she runs to you and sings "you are my sunshine".  

You just light up our lives, baby girl! 

Birthday Girl!

Our big girl turned THREE!  We had a great day celebrating her with our families!

She had several birthday requests...strawberry cake, balloons, and decorations!  Pretty easy!  Jesse and I decorated and made the cake (about halfway through the cake decorating, I swore we were going to ditch our decorating tradition and would be buying cake in the future) after she went to bed, so when she came downstairs on her birthday morning she was so tickled.  Watching her take it all in and get so excited made the late night so worth it.   (You can also see our finished tile project...love it and my tile guy!)

Of course, we had to let her open one present before the party!

I love this picture of my beautiful girl!

Pink and yellow butterflies for the cake and outfit!

 

 Happy 3rd Birthday, Annabelle!  We love you beyond measure!

Easter Weekend

We had a lovely Easter morning. We had a wonderful service at church. Sometimes I feel like I hear very little while trying to keep both girls relatively quiet and happy, but I do value getting to worship together as a family. I do know that there are some little ears in our house who hear almost every word though. Throughout the week I hear her singing parts of the songs from that week, talking about the "Jesus" stories, and asking us to pray the Lord's prayer "like at church". That makes the hour of passing out gummi bears and reminders to whisper worth every minute.



After church we came back home to play outside in the gorgeous weather, eat lunch, and hunt some eggs! Charlotte took her longest nap to date and missed all of the festivities.


We had decided not to go to any group egg hunts this year because Annabelle tends to freeze up around older kids. After watching her hunt eggs in our yard, we decided that she would have probably gotten exactly one egg at one with lots of kids. She would find an egg, tell us all that she found it, open it up, marvel at what was inside, try for a little while to close it back, ask for help closing it, and then add it to her basket. We had the longest one child egg hunt ever! She sure did enjoy herself...and a few pieces of chocolate!




A little look back at Easter pictures from the past two years!

Special Day

I am a little behind with these pictures which I promised to both sets of grandparents. We had the privilege of having our girls baptized together a couple of weeks ago. It was an incredibly special day for our family.


Since Annabelle was a little bit older, we knelt together. We had talked all week about what baptism means and what would happen during the service.


Charlotte reached up an held our ministers face while he held her.



We were so honored to have our families with us and for Jimmy and Ellen to join us as godparents as we presented the girls for baptism.










I had to share this one too, because no matter how special the day may be there is always a little craziness going on too!

Rainbow Rice

This post is for my fellow mom friends. I wanted to share pictures of an activity Annabelle and I did recently that has provided hours and hours of fun. I wish I could take credit, but I found the idea on Pinterest. It seemed like such an easy and inexpensive project, and I knew that she would love making it and playing with it. A great rainy day project!


We started with a 10lb bag of rice from Publix (less than $5), a bottle of rubbing alcohol and some food coloring. In a metal mixing bowl, pour 2-3 TBs of alcohol over 3-4 cups of rice. Next, add about 10-15 drops of food coloring. If the color is not spreading well, add a little bit more alcohol.

Annabelle had a great time picking the colors, squeezing dye, and stirring the rice. Pour each color onto a paper plate covered in paper towels to dry.



Pour into a bin and add some scoops, spoons, chop sticks, measuring cups...whatever you have!

The only downside is the clean up of rice flung around the room by an overeager stirrer. However, she plays with it for so long each time we get it out that the sweeping is worth it! Enjoy!

Five Months...

Charlotte Grace,

You are 5 months old! We skipped your 4 month post, so we will have to make this one count! What a whirlwind the last five months have been! You have added so much to this family - we are all crazy about you!

You are wearing 9 month clothes and size 2 diapers. At your 4 month appointment, you weighed 15 pounds, but I haven't weighed you again lately.

You are sleeping so great these days! Thank goodness for that! It took a little more than four months of feeding you around the clock (it is all a little bit of a sleep deprived blur), and then all of a sudden it clicked. The same thing happened with Annabelle at about the same time as well. I think that both of you just were tiny with little tummies, and it took a little while to get caught up. I will have to remind myself next time that there is an end in sight! You are exhausted and ready for bed about seven each night. I feed you once in the night at about 4 or 5am, then you sleep until about seven every morning. You are taking about 3 naps right now which have gotten a little bit longer as well (about an hour each).

You sleep squished as close to the side of the crib as you can get, and you like your paci for getting to sleep. Rolling has been sporadic, but you have been scooting on your tummy to change directions in your crib. You are waking happy in the morning and from most naps - just cooing for a few minutes until we get you.


The sleeping better lined up with starting you on solids! You LOVE eating! We have done a little rice, but mostly oatmeal which you are crazy about right now! You have also tried sweet potato, banana, avocado, apples, pears, and tonight we added carrots. You are still nursing 6 or 7 times a day as well. I have felt much more relaxed about starting solids with you. I am making most of it for you and following the 3-4 days between introducing new foods, but you just seemed ready so we just went for it!

I am not sure how much longer you will be willing to nurse during the day. You really would prefer your meals "to-go" right now, which is not super comfortable! Any noise or activity distracts you from eating. You do great in a dim, quiet room with no distractions, but that doesn't/can't happen very often. You also pump your free arm and leg up and down the entire time you eat.

Lately, you have been laughing at everything. You talk in the sweetest little voice and belly laugh at everything. You watch every move your sister makes, and you just light up when she is near you. She loves on you all day long. And she is really kind to you, too - always looking out for what you might need, bringing you toys or your paci, and talking to you in the car. She has also been especially sweet about you grabbing her hair and face with your curious little hands. She still calls you Charlotte Gracie Boo Boo and Gracie Grace, and we call you Charlotte Grace and Gracie a lot.


We are on the go a lot these days, especially now that the weather is so beautiful. You have been so adaptable and just go with the flow. You would much prefer to be held or in the sling instead of your infant seat. You want to know what is going on at all times. The exersaucer is perfect for you right now - you are super happy in it!

You are just the most delightful baby girl! I can't imagine our family without you in it. We love you so much!

My girls...

From their dark brown eyes, ear shape, noses, and fuzzy little heads...there is no doubt that these two are sisters!

Annabelle (L) and Charlotte (R)

Great Is Thy Faithfulness...

Oh how I love my little mismatched jammied girl!

2 and 3/4...

Annabelle,
Just wanted to write a little bit about you and what you have been up to lately. You are just 3 months shy of turning three, and you have become such a big girl.

First of all, you have been an incredible big sister to Charlotte. You are extremely kind and concerned about her and how she is doing. If she is not in the room with us, you want to know where is, and you want her to be with us. You have definitely started to show a more jealousy when we are holding her, but this hasn't changed your actions towards Charlotte. Instead, you have wanted to be held and carried more than ever. Also, it has been important to you to specify when one of us is doing something special with you that it is just a "big girl thing that babies can't do".

Your pretending has really taken off over the last couple of months. You and your dolls/animals play restaurant, school, camp out, and nap time. You love to "cook" for us and we are forever "tasting" what you made.

You are a girl of many interests! You have really gotten into wearing your tutu and "te-rah-rah" and have been calling everyone "Princess ____" (as in Princess Annabelle, Princess Mommy, Princess Daddy) while you are dressed up. We have been watching the non-scary parts of Snow White, and I think that has fueled the princess interest. In a completely opposite direction, you are obsessed with your daddy's construction tools. He has taught you to use quite a few of them as he as been doing all of these projects, and you can't keep your hands off of them. Current favorites include the measuring tape, the level (which you call "bubbles") and the laser level. As he has been working on tiling the family room, you have been imitating everything that he does.

We have really put to the test lately as you have been challenging what we tell you. Whew...you are one determined little lady. Some days go beautifully, and some days I say "you have to obey mama" a hundred times.

You continue to amaze us with your memory and your vocabulary. We can say something once, and you will remember and reuse the word days later. Some words you have used the past couple of weeks that have us saying "did she really just say that"... terrible (as in "that's just terrible"), colorful, concentrate, mysterious, interesting, privacy. I have been trying to jot down some of the funny things you been saying. The other day you told me "Mama, let's get me hooked up with some milk". When we have told you no about something, like maybe dessert, you say "but mama, how can i have dessert if i can't have any dessert"... it's a thinker! One night I asked you to call upstairs and tell daddy dinner is ready. You went to the bottom of the stairs and yelled, "daddy, dada, jesse, dinner, jesse, i can't eat without you, daddy..." When he didn't answer you immediately, you said, in your saddest voice, "I think I will just have to write a little song about this". You are one hilarious and dramatic little girl!

You have been having some extreme fears lately. For some reason, bugs seem to gravitate towards the slides at the park. A couple of weeks ago it was lady bugs and today there were gnats. You lost your mind both times. There was absolutely no reasoning with you whatsoever. The same thing has been happening whenever you see fuzz (like fuzz from your socks) in the bathtub. Hysterics. We have no idea why. I have tried everything to help with bath time... bubble bath, food coloring to make colored water, glow sticks...but if you see a fuzz... forget about it - you are out of that tub so fast.

You spend three days alone with daddy while Charlotte and I were in Atlanta. He did so many fun things with you, including going hiking and and on a lunch date.

You a quite particular and have an answer for most everything. For example, if I ask you if you would like a snack, you say things like "I would like some regular milk in my purple cup with a green lid and some goldfish in my orange bowl on a paper towel." You just like things how you like them...I think you get that from me.

Favorites: blocks, your dollhouse, cheese, Curious George, painting, play-doh, going on hikes and walks, bubbles, helping cook, chocolate chips, chick-fil-a,the moon and stars, singing

You are smart, beautiful, sassy, full of energy, compassionate, and so much fun!
We think you hung the moon!

What's been going on...

A January recap...

We celebrated Jesse's 35th birthday!


Annabelle got her first black eye falling on a toy. So thankful it missed her eyeball!


We had a flood in our backyard. The water made it into the garage and family room, and was about a centimeter from entering the doors for the playroom and kitchen. Water was streaming off the hill behind our house like a river.

I watched it rise over an entire step in the minute or two it took me to call my dad to ask what do to. After it made it to the top of the second step, I went out with a bucket and scooped and cried (really, the perfect solution) for about 20 minutes (of course, this did nothing), and then Jesse got home and rigged up a drainage hose contraption. Just an inconvenience, not a disaster, thank goodness!



We are under construction around here again. Our family room, which is really a large sunroom addition, carpet came out 2 weeks ago (a combination of the flooding and the dogs), and our tile crew (Jesse) is going to start laying tile on Saturday. Pretty excited about this!


So right now, all of our furniture is crammed in the dining room. Jesse was out of town for work, and then I left the day he got back to throw a baby shower for my friend Joy (pictures soon, hopefully) in Atlanta. Now all three of us girls are fighting the yuckiest cold, and poor Charlotte can not shake her low fever. And, our house has fallen apart (Mom, come back...we need you!)! I am pretty good about keeping the house under control most days, but being moved out of the family room makes it a little trickier! Don't worry... it has been cleaned up since this picture

(at least there are some vegetables amidst the mess!)


I used some Christmas present money to get my little kitchen club chair reupholstered. I also got our living room couch, that I have been waiting to redo forever, recovered ...mom found a lady in Atlanta with incredible prices. Having a comfy chair between the kitchen and playroom has been fantastic for reading to Annabelle and for feeding Charlotte, and it needed a little facelift! I love bolder colors and fun florals, and I feel like I live in the kitchen, so this just makes me so happy!

The girls are asleep about 30 minutes at the same time during the day right now so the old blog has been taking even more of a backseat. If it didn't take so long to upload the pictures, etc, I might do it more! I am open to suggestions, fellow blog writing friends. Currently, I upload everything into flickr, but I still feel like the process takes forever. Is there a better way?