Swim time

At a family reunion over the 4th of July weekend Charlotte finally got to have her first swimming experience! It didn't last long, but we got to use the adorable bathing suit that Mimi bought for her!

This is my cousin Cassie and her 1-year-old daughter Ellie

Week 2 without Daddy

Charlotte and I spent the last week of June in the Austin area. We didn't want to spend a week alone without Daddy, so we packed up and headed south. Charlotte, unfortunately, came down with a cold just before we left, so we didn't get to spend as much time with my sister's family as we had planned because we didn't want to get her kids sick. We headed down to my parents' house on Sunday afternoon. The drive went pretty well. We actually only had to stop once. Charlotte was very ready to get out of her car seat by the time we arrived. I think she was lonely in the backseat by herself! We spent Sunday night and Monday night with my parents. Then we packed up and headed to my sister's house on Tuesday. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday at my sister's and then we went back to my parents' for the remainder of the week. Sorry, Mom and Dad, that I didn't get any pictures of you.

Watching her cousins play a game

Cuddles the dog loves Charlotte, too!

These kids wear me out!

At a splash park on Wednesday morning.

The kids loved pouring water on Charlotte's legs!

We had a great week!

3 months old

Charlotte is 3 months old! She is growing so quickly already! Here are her current stats:

weight: 13 lb.s 1 oz.

height: ~ 25 inches

Here are some things I want to remember about Charlotte at 3 months:

- loves laying on her back and playing with toys hanging above her

- can roll onto her right side from her back, but can't go any further than that

- follows an object 180 degrees

- when laying on her back, she will turn her head backwards to look at something interesting

- loves to suck on her hands

- drools a lot!

- can hold her head up all by herself 95% of the time

- has starting "talking" making the "g" and "a" sounds

- still does not have a set time schedule for her routine; she always eats, plays, and then sleeps, but she doesn't always do these things at the same time each day

- usually grins really big at you when you go get her up from her nap

- has slept through the night, but only a few times

- doesn't like her car seat!

- is a social bee - she wants to be held very high on the shoulder or facing outward so she can see

- loves to be talked to or sung to

- whenever she is in her car seat or bouncer seat she is always pulling her head up and trying to sit up

Our week with Grammy and Poppy

We were so lucky to be able to spend time at Grammy and Poppy's house while Daddy was out of town for a week. We just did a lot of hanging out around the house.Charlotte slept really well while we were there. Unfortunately, after we got home she got sick and she hasn't slept very well since. I have this faint memory of 7 hours straight sleep 2 weeks ago and am looking forward to that possibility again sometime in the (hopefully) near future!

We spent a lot of time either laying on our back wiggling or swinging in Grammy's swing. Grammy sang many songs to Charlotte and she just loved it!

This is the life!

Thank you Grammy and Poppy! We loved our week with you!

Gone missing

In the blogging world, it is as though I have dropped off the face of the earth! We have had a crazy couple of weeks. Mark has been out of town in Tyler for two weeks for a training for work. Charlotte and I spend the first of the two weeks of that with his parents. Then, he came home for the weekend. Then, Charlotte and I drove to Austin and spent the second week with my parents and my sister's family. Then, on July 3 Mark flew to Austin to be with us at a family reunion that was July 2 - 4. We finally drove home yesterday. This week Mark's brother's family is in town so we will be spending each day over at his parents' visiting with them. On top of all of that, Charlotte has had a cold for a week and a half. We think she might have an ear infection so we are going to the doctor this afternoon. Hopefully sometime this week I will have the chance to catch up on some blogging.

Bumbo seat

This is a week late, but Charlotte sat in her Bumbo seat for the first time. She is still working on sitting up straight, but she has really great neck control. I can't believe I got her to smile for these pictures because she doesn't really like it very much yet. In fact, she melted down about 10 seconds after I took this picture! However, I hope as she gets older and stronger she will learn to love her Bumbo!

More family!

Charlotte has gotten a chance to visit and meet a lot of Mark's family over the last two weeks. Two weeks ago, most of Mark's Dad's side of the family drove up from New Braunfels and Austin to spend the weekend visiting. Here was the whole clan:

Back row (l to r): Tom (Poppy), cousin Dan, Uncle John, cousin Debi, Uncle Larry, Daddy and Charlotte; front row (l to r): Nancy (Grammy), Aunt DD, Wilmama (Mark's grandmother), Aunt Linda, me

Poppy and Wilmama

cousin Heather

Uncle John

Then, this past week some of Nancy's family came into town to visit. She got to meet her Granddad, Nana, Aunt Marcene, Aunt Rita, Great Aunt Callie, and cousin Carisse.

Granddad

Nana

Aunt Rita

It has been so much fun to share Charlotte with so many people who love her. I just love showing her off!

Zzzzzzzzz

My sweet angel slept through the night for the first time last night!!! She has been sleeping longer and longer every night for the last week or so. However, Mark and I decided we wouldn't say that she actually "slept through the night" until she slept from what could be bedtime to when a person would get up. Well, last night she slept from 9:30 - 6:15! While this isn't when I would choose to get up, it is when I will have to get up when I go back to work, so I consider that sleeping through the night. Go baby, girl! Now, the test is going to be if she can keep it up.

Happy Birthday, Mark!

I want to say a very Happy Birthday to the love of my life! Since he had to leave for Tyler today to be gone at a training for 2 weeks, we celebrated yesterday.

Mark loves, loves, loves chocolate pie, so that is what I made him for his birthday instead of a cake. Here he is blowing out his candles.

Yum, yum, eat 'em up!

Happy Father's Day!

I want to say a very Happy Father's Day to the special men in my life - my wonderful husband, my Daddy, and my father-in-law, Tom.

Mark - You are such an amazing Daddy to our little girl! You are so loving, gentle, patient, and adoring. I could not ask for a better father for my baby! Thank you for all you do for her and for me. I look forward to many more Father's Day celebrations!

Here is Charlotte handing her Daddy his gift.

Dad - I have the best dad ever! My memories of you while I was growing up are so precious to me. And, now that I am an adult and a parent, I treasure our relationship even more. Thank you for being the spiritual leader of our family and raising me in the Lord.

Tom - I have the best father-in-law in the world. Your never-ending support and generosity is overwhelming. Thank you for raising my husband to love Jesus. It has been so wonderful to be able to share our daughter with you and watch your budding relationship with her!

Just hanging out

Handsy

Our little girl can only be described as "handsy". Her hands are constantly in her face. I love the above picture because she was clearly very excited about the fact that she was able to sneak her hands out of the bottom of her swaddle. However, there are two big reasons that being "handsy" is not a good thing. The first is that she had long fingernails. I have tried several times to cut her nails, but it always ends in tears. She absolutely hates it. I can't cut them while she is asleep because she is always swaddled so I can't get to her hands. The problem with her long fingernails is that she cuts her face and other people with them. If anyone has any suggestions as to what I can do, I would love to hear them! The second reason that being handsy is bad is that she cannot sleep unless she is swaddled. She will not go to sleep or stay asleep unless her hands are strapped down. Otherwise, she gets them up in her face and wakes herself up. Swaddling her is fine for now, but I dread the day when we have to teach her to sleep without the swaddle.

2 months old

Charlotte is 2-months-old today! I can hardly believe that we have already had her in our lives for that long. On the other hand, I feel like I have always known her. She is such a precious and good-natured baby girl. She can steal your heart away with one smile!Here are some things about Charlotte at 2 months:

- smiles spontaneously and in response to people smiling at her

- smiles at her Mommy and Daddy's voices

- sometimes smiles so big it looks like she is trying to let out a belly laugh, but no sound comes out

- has ticklish feet

- loves, loves, loves her swing

- will sit in her bouncer seat fairly content for 10-15 minutes

- enjoys laying on her back on her play mat, sometimes looking in the mirror and hitting the toys with her hands (although this seems accidental)

- can roll from her tummy to her back, but only in one direction

- does not like laying on her belly

- still sleeps with her arms and legs swaddled

- still has very unpredictable sleep. She has slept anywhere between 2 - 8 hours at night, though it is more typically 3-4 hours at one stretch.

- is getting more used to riding in her car seat

Surviving our first cold

This week Charlotte had her first cold. I think it might have been as hard on Mommy has it was on Charlotte! She started sneezing a lot on Tuesday. She has been sneezing since she was born, but Tuesday was more than normal. I thought maybe she was having some allergies. On Tuesday night, she did great her 2:15 a.m. feeding, but then after her 5:30 feeding she wouldn't go back to sleep. She had a really congested nose and just couldn't sleep because she couldn't breathe very easily. She was sneezing, coughing, and was very congested. I took her to the pediatrician on Wednesday morning and she confirmed that Charlotte had a cold, but there wasn't really much we could do for her because she is so young. So, we came home and started the process of trying to get better. Surprisingly, Charlotte actually doesn't mind the nose sucker. Most of the time she actually smiles when I do it. However, she absolutely hates the saline drops. She usually cries or screams at me when I do it. We have also been running the humidifier almost 24/7. For the last three nights, we have been having her sleep in her bouncer seat in her crib so that she is propped up. This morning she finally woke up seeming to feel better. She has been smiling and in a good mood. Hopefully, she is getting close to recovering from her first cold. I hope it doesn't happen again for a long time. As a mom, I just could hardly stand listening to her be so uncomfortable. I cried twice listening to her struggle to breathe. It seemed to hurt me more than her! Sorry, baby girl, that you had to endure a nasty cold!

Hanging out with Mommy and smiling through the misery

Talking to Daddy

Charlotte newest favorite past time over the last few days has been to suck on her hand.

Meeting family and friends

While we were in Buda last weekend Charlotte had the chance to meet some family and friends.

Here is Charlotte with her cousin, Aaris

Charlotte and her cousin, Titus

Charlotte with her great-grandmother (my grandma)

Charlotte got to meet Reagan for the first time. Reagan was born in December. Her mommy, Joy, was my college roommate and is one of my dearest friends.

Charlotte already knows her Papaw and had a great time hanging out with him!

My sister, Jessica, was so sweet to buy her two girls (Skylyn and Aaris) and Charlotte matching tutus. They were so cute in their cousins' photo!