1st Haircut

Sporting her new do and looking at all the pretty bottles


Shaking one of those pretty bottles

Today I finally took Charlotte to get her first haircut. You know it is bad when even her daddy tells me that her hair is starting to look like a mullet. So... I caved in and got it cut. I did shop around. People, it is crazy what people charge to snip off the few little hairs on a baby's head. The cheapest I found was $11.00, which is what we paid today (before tip). One place was over $15.00 and they graciously let me know that since it would be her first cut they would give me a certificate and an envelope with her hair in it for an additional $3.00. I thought to myself - the hair belongs to my child. I am sorry I don't have to pay for that. I will bring my own darn envelope. The kind people at Great Clips gave us a card with the date and the snippings from her cut free of charge. This was obviously more along the lines of what I was looking for.

Charlotte was very brave. She sat with me the whole time - the reason why there are no pictures of the actual cut. She kept looking at the lady like she was crazy and at one point she she even tried to push the lady's hand away.

Other than her looking a little like Scout on To Kill A Mocking Bird, she looks pretty cute. I am sure I will adjust to the new cut. I can't wait for it to get long enough for me to actually play with. :)

The Pitfalls of Television

She normally stands while watching - I have no idea why.


Unamused with Mommy snapping her picture while watching her show.


She normally sucks her thumb while she watches.

Charlotte has not only been struggling with her ears but I discovered that she is cutting two of her one year old molars. Needless to say, she hasn't been herself. I had already given into the TV thing, but with her new fussiness it has been on a little too much.

These pictures were just too cute. She was watching Curious George while I was getting things ready for us to run out on Chick-fil-A business. This is one of her favorite shows - Blues Clues is her absolute favorite. She will fuss when it goes off and look for the remote or turn off the tv thinking it will bring it back.

For Doug's family, these pictures probably remind you of him. Doug loves tv (and I do too, really - hate to admit it). Life father like daughter. :)

Walking Tall

Walking out into the back yard for the first time - she didn't get far. She got distracted by the grass


Sitting pretty picking at the grass

Charlotte is walking everywhere. I have started letting her walk with me down to the mailbox. Every time we go out she wants to walk in the grass. Last Friday, it was so nice I decided to try the back yard. The ground is much more uneven out there and the grass is not as thick. She very quickly discovered all the textures on the ground and got distracted. We lasted about ten minutes before I was afraid she would get too dirty in her pretty clothes. We headed back in but ever since she makes her way to the back door on a daily basis to look longly at that interesting grass.

Welcoming Daddy

Charlotte has learned very quickly when her daddy arrives home - one of her favorite parts of the day. The dogs announce his arrival and she quickly makes her way to the door. It really is cute and I think her daddy really enjoys seeing her smiling face when he opens the door.

You will notice her black eye here. This was one of the pitfalls her learning to walk. Needless to say we have gotten flack from friends and strangers. I swear everywhere I went the day after she got it I saw cops everywhere I went. I could also feel all the condesending stares from people as we walked through the stores. I swear, she got it from walking into a chair. It immediately puffed up and got black. I felt so bad.

Preparing for Brother

So I have been very delinquent in uploading pictures. I will go ahead and apologize for the onslaught of posts, but I wanted to get these up. They are all special things to us and I know some of the fam will appreciate them.

Ironically, my mother has pictures of me helping my father put the crib together when Lauren was coming along. Charlotte had great fun with her daddy and thoroughly enjoyed the tools. We had to be very careful because she kept trying to go back into the baby's room to get into the toolbox. She loved it!

Growing Where I am Planted

I swiped this picture for Mary Catherine's Facebook page. It was too cute and it has nothing to do with my post, but I wanted to share it. Doug and Adeline are quite the buddies. She always remembers him whenever we see Owen and Mary Catherine and she just grins and laughs at him. I would venture to say that this just makes her Uncle Doug feel pretty special.

Anyway... Obviously I am dealing with some personal stuff but this excerpt from Oswald Chamber's book, My Utmost for His Highest ministered to me this morning. I have listed it below so you can read it for yourself. Also, so as not to go into a long explanation I will just say that God has convicted me that He has put me in a place in life where he is trying to grow me and I need to grow where He has planted me.

"Consider the lilies of the field . . ." (Matthew 6:28). They grow where they are planted. Many of us refuse to grow where God plants us. Therefore, we don’t take root anywhere. Jesus said if we would obey the life of God within us, He would look after all other things. Did Jesus Christ lie to us? Are we experiencing the "much more" He promised? If we are not, it is because we are not obeying the life God has given us and have cluttered our minds with confusing thoughts and worries. How much time have we wasted asking God senseless questions while we should be absolutely free to concentrate on our service to Him? Consecration is the act of continually separating myself from everything except that which God has appointed me to do. It is not a one-time experience but an ongoing process. Am I continually separating myself and looking to God every day of my life?

Baby Steps

Charlotte has been taking baby steps for the last two months but she has been too tentative to really take off on her own. This weekend Doug and I noticed her taking a few more little steps on her own here and there. We are half-way into the week and she is now walking across the living room. It is so fun to watch her as she wobbles away. She is still a little scared at times, gets frustrated, resorts to crawling when she wants to move a little more quickly, and she falls constantly - all the while getting back up and doing it all over again. She just keeps getting better at it.

Amazing that I can learn from my child's baby steps. I have been feeling a little overwhelmed at becoming a mother a second time, having two so close and wondering how I am going to be able to do everything - I am still planning on working come May. Doug is back to school and coaching (which means he is home very little), my parents officially moved this week, and I have been a little lonely (hard to believe with how busy my day seems to be).

I realize that in just a few weeks I will be starting yet another new chapter in my life - a mom of two instead of one. This will require baby steps in the beginning. I will be scared, frustrated, resort to whatever can make things happen, and I will fall constantly - all the while getting back back up and doing it all over again. I, too, will get better at it and over time life will feel normal again.

My husband will still be working, my parents will still be far away, and I may feel lonely, but I will eventually adjust and find my life and person as a mother of two.

Don't get me wrong, motherhood is wonderful and very rewarding - it is the best thing I have ever done. Like all things in life rewards do not come without hard work and a price. So... thanks, little Charlotte, for teaching Mommy that her next chapter in life will require baby steps that will eventually result in walking across the living room with great success. :)

A Blustery Day

On the slide


On the swings

I am transitioning Charlotte to one nap a day. While it really doesn't give me more time with her it kind of feels like it. We run errands in the morning for Chick-fil-A (most days), come home for lunch, she naps at 1:00 (while I work on Chick-fil-A business), and then we have the whole afternoon/evening together. I decided yesterday that I would take her to our neighborhood swings after her nap and a snack. It had been a few hours since we had been out and our fun trip turned out to last about 15 minutes. It was very blustery and cold. She loved it, though. These pictures were too sweet not to post. I thought I would share.

The great thing about our new found time together is it is giving me some quality time with my little girl before she officially becomes a big sister. I struggle with the time that I know baby brother is about to take from her. I know it will be good for her, but I feel sorry for her because she won't understand. I keep reminding myself to relish in these little moments. Baby brother is due 7 weeks from today. Stay tuned... We hope to have some nursery pics posted in the coming weeks.

xoxo

Bathing Beauties

Charlotte stands constantly in the tub. She can't sit still, but then again, she never does unless she is sleeping.


Adeline loving that cup


Getting sleepy

I remember when I was younger taking baths with not only my siblings but also my cousins. We always had great fun and whether you think it is a good idea or not, I don't really remember much about it except for having fun.

Charlotte and Adeline paired up together for bath time the night we got to my Mom's house. They really did have a lot of fun and I think they had an audience of about 5-7 people coming in and out taking pictures and laughing at them. All of us had great fun as well.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

Climbing to the mirror


Does it matter that Daddy and Uncle Andy are sitting here?


Mirror Mirror on the wall who is the farest of them all? Charlotte is!

While at my mother-in-laws for Christmas I think Charlotte had more fun climbing on whoever was on the couch so that she could view herself in the mirror that hung above it. Other than climbing the stairs with her grandpa, this was more fun than her presents. If only they would stay this satisfied forever. You can see she was having great fun.

Christmas at Grandma's

Charlotte smiling big


Gifts from Santa and his elves (aka Uncle Andy and Grandma and Grandpa)


A happy girl - and she was for most of the trip

Our Christmas was spent on the road. We traveled to Birmingham for Christmas and then on to Atmore for a short visit and to see my youngest sister graduate early from high school. It was a good trip, but we have vowed to only spend our holidays traveling to one family from here going forward (if we leave at all. You should have seen our Equinox it was stuffed to the max. I have no idea how we would do that with two kids) - especially now that my parents will be in Texas.

Above are some of the pictures of Charlotte on Christmas morning. She had no idea what was going on but loved entertaining everyone as she began discovering all her new toys. Needless to say, our house is filling up way too fast and our little boy will be here in approximately 8 weeks with more things to add to the baby takeover.

I will post more pictures from our travels soon. On the Good Day Atlanta piece, a little disappointing. The girl announcing the products on the show failed to say the name of my aprons. People know they can buy them at that shop, but they don't know what they are looking for. Oh well, a little free press never hurts. It is all just as well. My time is wrapped up in getting ready for baby #2 right now anyway.

Hope your holidays were wonderful!