Charlotte at 8 Months!

As each month passes, Charlotte just gets busier & busier. She's still the sweet bubbly baby that she's always been and I just love that about her! She gets excited so easily. When I pick her up from her nap she jumps up & down in my arms.

She loves to pat-a-cake and for us to bounce her up & down on our knee. She cackles and has this hilarious belly laugh when we do that! Matt & I find ourselves laughing right along with her so much of the time; she just has a contagious laugh. And she has pretty much constant entertainment at our house. We've noticed this month that when she's not being entertained, she's starting to let us know that she's not too happy about it. We've heard her fuss for the first time in the past few weeks. Although, after an entire week of being around our extended family, I think it might be that she's gotten just a wee bit spoiled & used to being held. :) But, who can blame her, she's just so adorable!

She's still working on getting her first tooth. Right now it's a guessing game as to which tooth will pop through first because both her top & bottom gums looks like they could burst. She's been such a trooper through all of it, but the past few nights she's been up some fussing. Poor girl!

This is my first attempt at her 8 month photo. She grabs everything within her reach & puts in her mouth. And, when she's finished slobbering all over it, she's learned to toss it behind her. She' s still not crawling (insert sigh of relief....our house is nowhere near babyproofed yet) but I don't think it will be too much longer. She can turn herself around in a circle and get to what she wants. She can do a bit of an inchworm crawl, but only to get to something just out of her reach. Now that she's sitting really well, she prefers to play that way & crawling has taken a backseat.

I just love this girl! She's started saying "mamama" intentionally when she wants me and it melts my heart every time. I just never get tired of hearing her talking. There are so many things I love about Charlotte....how she lights up when Matt gets home, how if I'm holding her & Matt is close by she reaches for him and if he has her she'll reach for me, like she wants to have her arms around both of us at the same time....how she grabs our cheeks and gives the slobberyist sweetest kisses over and over....how she is incredibly ticklish.....the way that she can just peek over the top of her bumperpad on her crib & I love walking in and seeing those little eyes peeking out at me.

Our lives are so so much more fun, more interesting, happier thanks to our sweet little Charlotte.

High Flying Adventure

One of the benefits to not having backyard neighbors is the incredible amount of wind we get. It's perfect for kite flying, so one afternoon recently we headed out to the deserted driving range & let the kids fly their new kites! They had such a great time & I was surprised at how happy they were to just sit and watch them fly over the water. It was such a beautiful day and even Miss Charlotte enjoyed watching the kites in the sky!

Family Weekend

Last weekend was quite an adventure for our family! We flew to NC to celebrate my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. I was so thankful that we were able to be a part of this time. 60 years is quite an accomplishment!

Our trip began bright and early on Friday morning where we flew out of LR. This was the kids first time to fly that they remember & they were so so excited! They both popped right up out of bed that morning and were ready to go. Thankfully, my parents & Sugar & Uncle Stewart were flying with us so we had plenty of help. :)

Going through security was quite an adventure (you mean we have to take our shoes off??). We were quite a site with our 3 kids, one Thomas the train suitcase, one pink suitcase, matt's backpack, one purse & one diaperbag! I'm sure we were one of their worst nightmares since we were traveling with baby food, formula, milk, and lots of other fun things that had to be tested at security.

Our first flight was from LR to Atlanta and the kids did great! In fact, they were quite easy to travel with and I was so proud of them! More than once I had someone compliment their behavior to me. The Atlanta airport was Harrison's little heaven. Not only had he just gotten off an airplane, but we had to change terminals & he got to ride the train and the moving sidewalk. Just what this little boy loves! The flight from Atlanta to Raleigh was uneventful & by the time we arrived the kids looked like this:

It did them such good to get a nap since we'd had such an early morning. Poor Charlotte was so tired that she didn't even wake up until we put her in her carseat in the car. :)

By the time we arrived at Mammy & Grandpops house the kids were really ready to get out & play. And, they were so excited to meet some new cousins! Grandpops was ready for them with a wheelbarrow full of sand & lots of digging tools! My cousin Katie & her family arrived soon after we did & our kids became fast friends. Madeleine & Lily immediately hit it off & were so cute outside playing together. It reminded me so much of Katie & I playing together at Mammy's house in the summers....

Mammy & Grandpops house had a gravel driveway full of rocks, aka "crystals" that kept the girls occupied all afternoon. :)

Harrison spent at least 4 hours glued to this wheelbarrow & sand that afternoon. He was in heaven!

My cousin Kristen & her family came over after her girls naps -- Ruthie & Maddie are such cuties! Here they all are eating outside at dinner on Friday night at the kid table. So thankful that I've finally been promoted out of the kid's table. :)

And sweet little Patrick, the newest member of Katie's family. Isn't he adorable!

Saturday was more playtime for the kids while I hit the Peaches N' Cream & Carter's outlets. I found lots of great deals & we came home with one extra bag.

The kids had lunch in Mammy & Grandpops RV. Madeleine & Harrison are fascinated by the "house on wheels." My poor Grandpops retreated out there to rest & the kids just followed him!

After lunch, we all headed down the road to a park with an awesome area for kids! It looked like something right out of a movie. They have a carousel that's 100 yrs old this year, a great train ride (tunnel included) and a few other little rides. They're all under pavilions and it's a super family friendly place. Perfect for a fun afternoon!

Here are 7 of the 9 greatgrandchildren waiting for the train. There are 7 that are 3 and under -- makes for a fun time!

After the park & baths, Madeleine & Harrison relaxed on the couch with Carter and watched some Toy Story. I think it's possible that Carter loves Toy Story even more than Harrison!

That evening we had dinner at a local restaurant with all of our family & some of Mammy & Grandpops close friends to celebrate their anniversary. My Uncle David & Aunt Lila put all of it together & it was wonderful! They had a photographer come and take a picture of our entire family and they even had a slideshow with pictures over the years. (Not some of my best pictures ever -- ha)

The food was so yummy & everyone told memories of Mammy & Grandpops. My sister wrote the sweetest poem for them that maybe someday I'll post. The kids did great as well at dinner. Poor Harrison was so tired that for awhile he laid down across 3 chairs & almost went to sleep. They ended up watching Toy Story again on the computer while we all ate.

Here's Mammy & Grandpops with all of their children. And, all of them have been married a long time as well, which speaks so much to the example they've had.

Saturday was over all too soon & we had to start packing (and figuring out where to put all those clothes I'd bought). Sunday we went to church & lunch and then we had to head back to the airport to catch our plane home. Before we left Mammy had to get some extra lovin' from Miss Charlotte.

The plane ride home was uneventful. The kids did such a great job again. It was quite a long day since we had a 3 hour trek home from LR after landing ..... we didn't get home until after midnight. And, somewhere along the was I came down with a bad case of strep (boo).

All in all it was one of the best weekends we've had in a long time! We enjoyed every moment of getting to be with our family and celebrate such a special event with them. It was fun to catchu up with my cousins. It made me realize how time does fly. It seems like just moments ago that we were spending summers up at Mammy's house playing outside, or going to Friendly's for ice cream, or exploring her house. However, it was also reassuring to know that some things never change, like the smell of her house & fun times that happen there. I loved watching Madeleine play with the same jewelry in the same jewelry box that I played with as a child and knowing that both of my children were making memories that they'll have forever.

Better Late than Never....7 Months

Well....this post is about a week late in happening, but I'm finally getting around to it. :)

Here we are now on the downhill slide to Charlotte's one year birthday! I can't believe how quickly she's become her own little person and with each change I just love her even more!

Sweet Charlotte, you just light up my world! You always, always have a smile on your face. And you have one of those smiles that reaches all the way up to your eyes, which I love. You smile at anyone that talks to you, from the grocery store checkout lady to the teachers at Madeleine's school. And it seems that everyone that meets you falls in love with you just as we have.

You have continued to develop such an easy-going personality. You prefer to sleep in your bed and will only sleep about 30 minutes in your carseat or our arms....and those time you'll just close your eyes and fall asleep; rarely do you fuss. However, in your bed you'll nap for anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 hours. And you're still a champion sleeper at night, for which I am so grateful! You usually go to bed around 7:30 and sleep until 7:30 the next morning. This past weekend you slept until 9:30am when I finally woke you up!

We had your 6 month doctor appt this past week and you weighed in at 19lbs 5 oz (90%) and were 25 inches long (25%). So you're quite the little chubby one! I love it!

You have learned to sit on your own this month, although I still put a pillow behind you. You get so excited sometimes that you start bouncing and immediately fall backwards! I love watching you get excited. You will bounce up and down and squeal and flail your little arms and it makes me laugh every time! You love to babble and squeal and talk to us, but your favorite audience is still Madeleine. I love watching that bond between the two of you grow with each passing day.

You have gotten much more active this month. You can get up on all 4s and rock back and forth. And, you've learned to turn around in a circle, although none of us have seen you do this. We'll leave the room and come back moments later to find you facing an entirely different direction -- we call it your "trick." You can maneuver your way to pretty much anything you want to reach!

Bathtime has become one of the best times of your day. You've always loved your bath, but this month you've discovered that your arms can make some MAJOR splashes! You grip your hands together and just bang them in the water. You can soak our bathroom in no time and on more than one occasion you've soaked your momma too! I love this time with you each day and I love how sweet you smell when you're all nice and clean.

This month you've started putting everything in your mouth and I'm having to start thinking about babyproofing the house. You're current favorite toy is your bath turtle that travels with us most places since it must feel good against your gums. I think we might even be seeing a tooth before long. I knew your bottom ones were close to coming in, but the doctor remarked this week that your top ones looked like they could pop through at any time as well. Since you haven't been fussy, I'm curious to see if there will be any change in your disposition when they finally do come through.

You have such a sunny disposition that is one of my favorite things about you. I hope you'll always have such happy spirit. You get excited easily and love for us to read to you and get so excited when we do. I've had to stop reading before naps and start reading after because you get so excited and worked up and it's harder for you to go to sleep. :) You still babble all the time and absolutely love to blow raspberries. You can soak your shirt doing this!
I sometimes find it hard to believe that this time last year we had no idea that there was a sweet little girl waiting to become part of our family. You came into this world and made us smile and we haven't stopped smiling yet.