I'm praying!

I would tweet this but it's too long to tweet and give the full effect of the story so it's coming on here.

We gave Charlotte a Color Wonder set for a big sister present when James was born.  If you don't know, this is a set of markers and special coloring books.  The markers only show up on the coloring book pages so they can't make a mess with markers all over the house.  Charlotte hadn't been playing with it much but about two weeks ago she rediscovered it in a drawer and has been drawing with them pretty consistently.

She can get the lids off of the markers and back on (if she tries) but has been putting the marker lids on the ends of her colored pencils and walking around using them as a microphone of sorts.  This morning she was putting multiple lids on multiple colored pencils and and lids were falling off every few seconds and rolling all over the floor.

Like, I can only hope, most any mother of a toddler, this began to get on my nerves the longer she did it.  So I said, "Charlotte, put your marker lids back on your markers.  Your markers are going to dry out.  You can't play with them like that."  And Charlotte responded, "I'm PRAYING!  I'm praying to GOD! Remember???"  And then she held her colored pencil/marker duo up to her mouth and said, "Thank you for James. And for him tummy time.  And for him sleeping."  And looked at me, "See, I'm praying to God! Remember??"

At that point I realized my battle was lost.  I'll just have to pick up the marker lids once she goes to sleep.  Because, while I don't know what the connection is to holding a colored pencil and a marker to pray, apparently she thinks they go together this morning and I'm not going to be the one standing in the middle of her relationship with God!

All My Praise

I will follow You through green pastures

And sing hallelujah to Your Name

I will follow You through dark disaster

And sing hallelujah through the pain

And even in the shadow of death

I will praise You

And even in the valley I will say

Holy, My God

You are worthy of all my praise

Holy, My God

You are worthy of all my praise

You are seated on your throne in heaven

And You see all of us down here

And You have promised You will not abandon

So I shall not fear

And even in the shadow of death

I will praise You

And even in the valley I will say

Holy, My God

You are worthy of all my praise

Holy, My God

You are worthy of all my praise

You made every star 

And You taught it how to shine

You knew my name before there was time

And all this was just part of Your glorious design

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Holy, My God

You are worthy of all my praise

Holy, My God

You are worthy of all my praise

Holy, My God

You are worthy of all my praise

Holy, My God

You are worthy of all my praise

- All My Praise, Selah

Today we are laying my Papa to rest.  If you could please say a prayer for your family today we would appreciate it.  He is greatly missed.

Third Saturday in October

The third Saturday in October.  For Alabama and Tennessee fans it's an ages old tradition that makes for a fun football weekend every fall.  We headed down to Tuscaloosa last weekend for this traditional football weekend.  Our weekend was decidedly more laid back than Homecoming weekend but was still full of fun.  

We had....

snuggles with Memma,

new game day outfits,

and Daddy/Son time which is rare during the week since James sleeps so much.

Saturday evening we headed out as a family of four to the game.  Charlotte, again, loved the game and I'm pretty sure could have lasted the whole game if we'd let her.  But James wasn't loving the sling or the chill or what I'd eaten in the past few days or something and we're sticklers for bedtime so we headed home right before halftime.  We had a fun first half though (even if the action on the field wasn't so hot during that time!). 

Another year has gone by.... for Papa G

This year we celebrated Papa's birthday with hamburgers at his house.  Amazingly enough that was James' first day to ever visit Memma and Papa's house!  They have just been keeping Charlotte with them or helping us at our house so he hadn't been down there.  I think he realized that he's going to love it just as much as Charlotte does!

For Papa's birthday we got him this awesome subway artwork of Alabama's fight song.  I was so excited when it arrived a few weeks ago that I opened it in front of Charlotte forgetting that she probably wouldn't be able to keep it a secret.  When I showed it to her she thought it was really cool and I impressed upon her that it was a surprise for Papa's birthday and we couldn't tell him about it.  Occasionally between then and his birthday she would say something about how Papa was going to love the fight song for his birthday but she kept the secret from him wonderfully!  All day on his birthday before we went over to their house she got so excited when she remembered that we were going to give it to him that night!  It's now gracing the condo and is a great addition to our Bama memorabilia.

Fashionista

Charlotte loves clothes.  And jewelry.  And bows and headbands.  And shoes.  And really anything else that she can adorn herself with.  Recently she's put gotten really excited about some of her outfits and I thought I'd share them with you.

We're nothing if not optimistic in Alabama.  Charlotte has probably seen as much snow in her first two years as I did my entire childhood.  Chances are good that she won't see significant snow in Alabama again until she has kids of her own, but she still has a new pair of snow boots and a hand-me-down snowsuit just in case!

Charlotte was so excited when it finally got cool enough to wear this beautiful sweater that KayKay knitted for her.  She loves the flowers and the colors!

And Charlotte was almost too excited for words when I showed her the new puppy house shoes that I picked up for her at Target.  She loves her puppy shoes and didn't take them off for a few days although now she likes looking at them and playing with them more than wearing them!

Our little hippie.  Charlotte found some old cloth headbands and enjoys wearing them more around the top of her head than like a traditional headband.  With her flower bow it almost looks like a newborn headband but the pearl necklace kind of balances it out! :)

Recipe Wednesday - Crockpot Barbecue Chicken

When I was making my dinner plan last week I went through Pinterest to see what recipes I had on my recipe board.  This BBQ Chicken recipe looked easy and worked well since the only chicken I had was frozen.  It ended up being super easy and was very good!

Crock Pot Barbecue Chicken

4-6 pieces of boneless skinless chicken, frozen
1 bottle Barbecue sauce
1/4 cup Vinegar
1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 - 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1. Mix Barbecue sauce with all ingredients listed below it.
2. Place chicken in crockpot.
3. Pour sauce over it and cook on Low for 4-6 hours.

*I would do less times if the chicken isn't frozen.

Brother Sister Love

Charlotte loves her little brother.  BUT she doesn't want to hold him or touch him very often.  So when she came over to rub his head when he was lounging in his Boppy I grabbed my phone and caught these cute pictures.

James was holding his arm out like this and Charlotte told me that he wanted a fist bump.  But she then told me that he was too little for a fist bump and wouldn't give him one.

He still smiled so I don't think he minded the snub!

She finally asked!

We've been asking Charlotte since James was born if she wanted to hold him.  Up until tonight -- the night before his seven week birthday -- the answer was no.  Once Jason asked her why she didn't want to hold him and she said it was because he cried when she held him.  So from that we gathered that since he cried when she held him the night that he was born she didn't want to hold him again.

But, finally, she asked to hold James and so we very quickly -- before she changed her mind! -- got her situated and put him in her lap.  She was so proud of herself after she held him and kept showing us how she held her arms in the cradle position to hold him.

Of course, once I took him from her (since he was genuinely crying while she held him) she got up and said she wanted to hold him standing up.  We might have created a touchy feely sister that we were thankful beforehand that we didn't have since that was one less thing that we had to worry about.  Only time will tell!  But we were so glad that she wanted to hold him and hope that over time she'll start touching him and holding him more.

And for those of you who are worried about his positioning.  He was secure in her arm and propped on the pillow and not as perilous as these pictures make it out to be.  Plus, Jason and I were both within a foot or two of them so he wasn't going anywhere!

Secret Hiding Place

It seems that Charlotte has always loved our kitchen cabinets.  When she was crawling she would open the doors and sit on the edge of the cabinets but that stopped not too long after it started and she hasn't done it since.  Before James was born I cleaned out the cabinets that had our tupperware collection in them and didn't have time to move things into the from the pantry.  I didn't think about it until last week when I was working on cleaning up the kitchen and I looked and Charlotte had opened one of the doors and was sitting in the cabinet!

Now she refers to the cabinets as her "secret hiding place."  She likes getting in them and using her colored pencils like drumsticks on the shelf inside of them.  She also isn't afraid to close the door on herself although I don't let her do that because it scares me.  She loves showing off how she gets in to them when someone comes over and asks to see them.  It looks like this Big Sister might be craving a place of her very own these days.  We might have to let Santa know that she needs a play house or tent just for her.  And I guess I can't fill those cabinets back up unless he comes through!

May 16, 2010: (almost 1 year old)

October 12, 2011: (almost 2 and a half years old)

Just for Comparison

There's another post coming next week with a comparison picture of Charlotte but tonight when we got back from the game I was looking through the pictures on my phone and found this one from last year and was blown away with the differences in Charlotte in only a year.  It's amazing how much can change in such a short amount of time when they're this young!

September 4, 2010

Alabama vs San Jose State

October 22, 2011

Alabama vs Tennessee

A great gift idea

In case you need a neat gift for the person who has everything (or want to treat yourself to a little something), you should definitely consider getting a personalized cell phone case.  There are lots of personalized monogrammed ones out there but my current favorite is a case with a picture of your choice on it.  Kind of like this one with the two cutest kids on the planet on it. :)

I ordered this from Get Uncommon and am so happy with everything about it.  The quality is great.  I love looking at this sweet picture so often.  And the turnaround time between ordering it and delivery is SO QUICK! I was shocked when I opened the package at my door because I wasn't expecting it for at least a few days later!

This post is totally my idea and I'm not getting anything out of it, but they did give me a coupon code to share with a friend so if anyone wants a $5 off coupon please email me at talesofapeanut at gmail.com.  The first person to ask for it will get it.

And a little funny story about my case.  When I first got my case I put it on my phone in front of Charlotte and she asked what it was.  I told her it was a cell phone case.  She turned up her nose and shook her head and said, "I don't like it."  She later very happily told my Mom about it on the phone and said that she did like it but every time she sees me with it she still tells me that she doesn't like it!  She is very proud though that the picture is of her and Baby James!  I guess she just can't make up her mind!

The conclusion of a great Homecoming

I am finally getting to blog about the Saturday of Homecoming weekend.  Since our game had been set for a 6 pm kick, the parade was pushed back until noon.  This made our day a lot more hectic than we would have liked since Charlotte usually goes to sleep at noon.  We knew though that even if it meant that we had to miss the game, we needed to go the parade.  So we sent Jason and Papa out early to get a spot for us in the shade and the rest of us stayed back at the condo until it was time for the parade.

Once I fed James we headed out to the parade.  Let me tell you, when the farthest you've walked since your c-section is around the block, walking to and from the Quad two separate times while pushing a double stroller with a 2.5 year old and a newborn isn't as easy as some might make it look!  By the time we got to University I was exhausted and we still had the whole parade and the walk back!  But seeing how much Charlotte enjoyed it definitely made it worth it.  (Plus, I need all the exercise I can get!)

We were so glad that Miss Lindsey met us and watched the parade with us.  Since Homecoming Charlotte's been asking randomly, "Where's Miss Lindsey?"  She now knows that Birmingham is a city but thinks that Miss Lindsey and Papa G hang out in Birmingham a lot since Papa is frequently in Birmingham for meetings these days. :)

Charlotte was so happy to have Sam and Abby with her all weekend.  She definitely went through Sam and Abby withdrawals after we got home, but got to watch the game with them last weekend too so that was fun!

James just hung out in the stroller during the parade.  He was awake at the beginning but eventually went to sleep.  

Such a sweet picture of Charlotte and Papa G!

Since the parade was at 12 we didn't get back to the condo until 2:30ish.  This is almost the end of Charlotte's nap time and she was exhausted.  Since we were just going to be having downtime between then and the game we decided, against our better judgment, to go ahead and put Charlotte down for a quick nap.  This was a disaster.  She didn't go to sleep for a long time and right when we were going to go and get her up she went to sleep.  We let her sleep for 30-45 minutes and then went and woke her up and it was like we woke up a sleeping bear.  Poor girl wouldn't get out of the bed and started crying.  I was afraid that we weren't going to be able to go to the game but we powered through and when we walked outside to go to the game she miraculously calmed down and was fine for the rest of the night.  We learned our lesson though, either nap at nap time or no nap at all!

Since we were only going to stay for the first half my Dad worked it out for us all to sit with them for the first half.  I was really excited to get to see Charlotte at the game since this was the first year that she was really excited about it.  Her behavior didn't disappoint and she did lots of cheering, eating, and singing the fight song!

This was James' first Alabama game!  He mostly snoozed throughout it but he got lots and lots of attention during the game!

This is Charlotte demonstrating what the cheerleaders do (in her opinion).  It involves putting her head back with her arms up and then throwing her head forward and her hair over her head and touching the ground.  It's hilarious.  I'm going to try and get it on camera because it's so funny!

The stress of getting Charlotte up and all four of us out the door meant that some things got forgotten.  Thankfully, it was just a zippy cup for Charlotte.  They had coffee stirrer straws that we put in a glass of water for her but she liked playing with it more than drinking out of it.  That's what she had in her hands here.

Another "cheerleader" impression

I was so excited that Alpha Chi won the Spirit Cup for Homecoming!  This has never happened that I can remember and so I was so glad that I was able to be there to see the President (one of our family friends that I've known since she was born) and the Homecoming chairman accept the cup on the field at halftime.  But as soon as they said "Alpha Chi Omega" we were headed out the door to get home and put the kiddos to bed.  We did manage to take a family picture before leaving though....