Baby Shower Giveaway

It almost pains me to link to this because if you go and enter it decreases the chances that I can win but since by blogging about it I get to enter again I think it only helps me AND I can't bear for you to not know that it's going on!

I love Natalie at Natalie's Sentiments. Her button is on my sidebar. She had a little boy, Collin, the same day that I had Charlotte and so it's fun for me to see what they are up to. She also links to great sites that have introduced me to tons of new stores and blogs online.

Well today she started a "ginormous" baby shower giveaway with her favorite products for a baby shower. You have to go check it out and enter to win! She's picking three winners who will then get some products from all of the categories! Go! Now! It's amazing!

Motherhood

So I'm sitting here watching Charlotte in her swing and not doing any of the things that I need to be doing. Packing boxes. Unloading the dishes. Cleaning the house. Packing for Tuscaloosa. Instead, I'm blogging because I so need a bloggy break. I was all set to get on today and blog about toothless smiles and how they make my heart melt. And let me tell you, they do! I think I've decided that nothing can compare with Charlotte looking up at me breaking into a huge grin and squealing in delight. Tell me that your child getting that much joy out of just looking at you isn't the sweetest thing in the world!?!? Anyway, I was all set to wax poetic about those grins and then life took over and reminded me about all of the other things about motherhood that I'm loving these days.

Like the picture above. I took it last night while Charlotte was in her Boppy. Today is Jason's and my third anniversary (Happy Anniversary Jason!) and last night we went out on a date. However, Charlotte wasn't falling asleep and I needed to get ready so that we could leave as soon as Jason got home from work. So I sat her in her Boppy and moved it in front of the door to the bathroom. She played for a little bit but the next time I looked out her passy was out and her little thumb was all the way in her mouth. It was just too cute, I couldn't resist a picture before we picked her up and put her in her car seat.

Like getting to play with Charlotte all day every day. Last week I officially resigned from my job to become a stay at home Mommy. I'm going down to Tuscaloosa tomorrow so that Friday I can go in and process out. On one hand I'm sad because I work with the best people and do something that I really enjoy. But I just can't imagine leaving Charlotte every day. Thankfully, we are blessed to allow me to take this break from the working world and I am so grateful that we are able to do this. Thank you Insuresoft for three great years and for being so understanding when I said that I wasn't going to be able to come back.

Like the messy things about motherhood. This morning I had Charlotte on my lap and I decided to see if she could hold any of her weight on her little legs. She had eaten about 45 minutes before so I figured I would probably be safe. I held her around her torso and let her push herself up on my stomach and then back down five or six times. (For the record, she can definitely hold weight for a little bit!) And then she hiccuped. And I could see it in her eyes. She was on my stomach. The laptop was farther down my lap. I was sitting on the couch with nary a burp cloth in site. So I asked, "Charlotte, are you about to spit up all over Mommy?" I promise, she smiled at that and then proceeded to spit up all down my shirt. :) You can't beat that! And then we needed to take some clothes to the cleaners and I got her in her car seat and off we went. She was a perfect little angel just playing in the backseat so I decided to try and push my luck with stopping by Sonic to get a drink. While we were waiting for it to be delivered I heard a blowout. She didn't cry or anything though but I just had a feeling that something might not be good. So I get home and move her elephant to unbuckle her and yes, it exploded all over the car seat. Lovely. I did send Jason a picture of it just so that he could live vicariously through me (you're welcome!). So now I'm doing a load of her laundry instead of more of ours that needed to be done.

There are tons more things about motherhood that I'm loving but I guess I do need to take advantage of nap time and go do some things around the house. Happy Wednesday!

Swingin'

Charlotte has been a little fussy since her shots but tonight she started hamming it up for the camera in her swing. Sadly, some of the best pictures have her out of focus and the zebra and giraffe at the front of the swing in focus. But these are still cute!

In bigger news, I'm about to feel like Jon and Kate Plus 8 only in a stable marriage, without 8 kids, and without a tv show when I say 1....2....3....we're moving! Jason and I have found a new house that we love and we are moving in a few weeks. So my posts (which have been few and far between since Charlotte's birth) will be pretty brief over the next few weeks. We have also decided to start a new blog to protect Charlotte's privacy. We would love for our readers to be able to continue following us once we make the move, so once I get everything set up I'll let you know so that you can send me your email information so that I can send you the new address. Just wanted to give you a heads up!

In the meantime, enjoy these pictures and enjoy your weekend! Think of us...we'll be packing all weekend!

Two Months!

Two months! Where has the time flown!?!? Our little girl has gotten so much bigger and we are having so much fun with her! She is currently sacked out in her boppy because she had her first shots today. That was super traumatic for us since we had never heard her scream like that, but thankfully the screaming didn't last too long and she's just slept since then.

Life with Charlotte is changing every day. It seems like almost daily she does some new trick that we get a kick out of. A lot has happened since her one month birthday. Today at the doctor she got weighed and measured and weighs 10 pounds and is 21.8 inches long. Those are both in the 32nd percentile which our doctor described as the lower portion of average. He also kind of looked at me and said that her being shorter was to be expected, I'm not sure what he meant by that! :)


Look how big she looks next to her bear and how alert she is!

Charlotte is now noticing things a lot more. She will turn and look at you if you're talking (she's looking at Jason as he makes funny faces at her in this picture) and noticed Luca two nights ago. She is content to sit (or lay as it may be) in her activity gym for longer periods of time just kicking and batting at the objects and watching the star above her sing and change colors. She also smiled at me while I was playing "peek-a-boo" with her the other night. These days we're doing just about anything we can to elicit a smile!

Like this one when she's laughing at us because we're trying to make her smile. We've yet to catch a real heart-stopper on film since she likes smiling at us and not a black camera the most but we're still working on it.

At this point she was tired of the flash and the pictures and was hiding behind her bear!

Some other things that are new in this last month is that Charlotte will hold on to a rattle if you put it in her hand and hit herself in the head with it a few times. She has started loving her little blanket with the elephant head on it and will suck on it if a passy isn't nearby. She squeals at herself while she's talking herself to sleep at night and playing in her activity gym.

She still isn't consistently sleeping through the night but every few nights she makes is 7 hours which is a blessing for us. She's in a pretty consistent routine during the day but doesn't mind when we go out to shop or for lunch or to run errands. She is a great trooper and will pretty much sleep through anything if she's in her car seat!

Charlotte is a wonderful little girl and we are loving getting to know her personality. We look forward to watching her grow and grow and grow!

Tummy Time

Thought y'all might like to see some Tummy Time pictures!

Charlotte and I had a lot of fun at dinner with The Birthday Club for Mom's birthday last night. Thanks for letting us tag along!!

Sunshine

Just in case you were in need of a little sunshine today I thought these pictures of Charlotte in her fun yellow outfit might help! We went to a Kids Fashion Show this morning and Charlotte was super excited (see the picture from Twitter on the sidebar!). :) She slept through the whole thing which was nice because it meant that we got to enjoy it. And I PROMISE that I didn't match myself to Charlotte's outfit on purpose. I didn't even realize that I had done it until I was in the car on the way over and then it was too late to change. But I thought the picture was cute so I included it. Don't harass me too much please! :)

Things are going really well with us. Charlotte is so animated these days and it is so much fun! I can't even imagine how much fun it will be when she's toddling around talking to us! She loves her activity gym these days -- especially the sun that sings to her and changes colors. She just looks at it mesmerized and bats at all of the objects on it. It is so fun to watch! Sometimes we feel like she is really close to rolling over. She will lift the bottom half of her body up off of the ground and fling her hips around.... but she's still not there. She is sleep so well also! (Of course, I'm sure I've just jinxed myself! Let me find some wood to knock on really quickly!) The past week she's slept through the night (11 pm until 5-6 am) most nights and when she hasn't slept all the way through she's gotten close (getting up around 4:30). Jason and I are hoping that this is a new trend. If it is, I will recommend Babywise to every soon-to-be mother I meet! The only thing that has disappointed me is that everyone told me that the first night she slept through I would wake up and feel like a brand new person. Except, I still feel tired?? Is that normal?? :)

She's about to wake up from her nap so I better go. Happy Tuesday everyone!

Adrienne

I have been reading Adrienne's blog ever since I got into blog world and her story has captivated me. She and her husband have struggled to have children and have had multiple miscarriages, the last one as recent as January. They adopted a beautiful little boy, Owen, from Russia, and in the past year have had multiple miscarriages and now two failed local adoptions. Through it all Adrienne has kept her faith that God is moving them in His will and has been such an inspiration to me. Today Adrienne announced that they will be adopting a little girl from South Korea!

As I'm sure you can imagine, domestic adoptions are expensive and international adoptions are even more so. So Adrienne and Jim are trying to raise money so that they can bring their little girl home. Adrienne will be hosting a big giveaway with some great prizes like a Canon Rebel and Wii soon and I will let you know when that is in case you want to enter to win. She is also hosting a gold party at her home in Tennessee next weekend in case you want to help her out there. You could send her any gold that you have and either let her keep the profits or have her send the profits back to you. The gemologist will be giving them a percentage of what's collected that night so even if you just sent her the gold and had her send all of the profits back to you you would still be helping.

But I mostly wanted to let you know about the discount you will get at AllyZabba that will help Adrienne and Jim. They have beautiful blankets and if you use the coupon code "lily" you will receive 10% off of your order. The best part is that AllyZabba will donate 30% of your order to Adrienne and Jim's fund!

I just wanted to let you know about this incredible family so that you can pray for them and for their little girl waiting in an orphanage in South Korea.

Fourth of July!

Today Jason and Tripp played golf and Kelly, Caroline, Charlotte, and I met them at the pool. Memma, Papa G, and Charlie were there also which was fun. We enjoyed a great lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs and then had fun watching Caroline splash around the pool. Charlotte was only out at the pool (and in the shade the whole time!) for a short time but this is how we found her during her nap after her first pool experience. I think she enjoyed it but she was exhausted when we got home!

Week Six

Time has sure flown to get Charlotte to the six week mark! Here is her week one Bear picture and her week six Bear picture. I think she's grown a lot! :)

Week Six

Week One

Trip to Tuscaloosa

While Charlotte naps I thought I'd try and get caught up on the week! We sure were busy! On Tuesday Charlotte, Memma, and I went down to Tuscaloosa. Charlotte made the trip down splendidly...we never heard a peep! I was so thankful that she didn't start crying during the trip. When Carrie, Sam, and Abby got in to town we met them at Mugshots and enjoyed a dinner full of lively conversation. You should hear Sam and Abby's opinions on Michael Jackson! They are surprisingly insightful for a 10 and 8 year old. Wednesday morning we put on our Alabama clothes and took some pictures which was fun. And then Wednesday afternoon I got to show Charlotte off at the office. She loved meeting everyone! She cried a little bit on the drive home but was asleep completely by the time we made it to Birmingham. All in all it was nice to be back in T-town again and I'm really looking forward to the football season starting!