Baby Got Back

We got a new diaper this week... it's a one-size-fits-all Rumparooz, in turquoise bubble minkee. Got that? lol. It is AWESOME! Charlotte broke it in just after this photo shoot ended, and the extra gussets on the inside (called the "poop scoop") worked perfectly. The inside is chamois... soooo soft, and stays feeling dry.

She's finally at a size where the majority of our stash fit her appropriately, and most are adjustable to get bigger as she does. While she's smaller, though, they do make her butt look big. :o)

Wordless Wednesday...

And for her latest trick...

How did she manage this?

This AM, I go in to get the biscuit, and find her like this. I got the camera and snapped a pic b/c I was impressed by how she'd turned around. (That alone wouldn't have been blog worthy, but stay with me). See how her arms are out of the swaddle?


We get close and unwrap her so that she can stretch... That stinker had unsnapped the top snap and pulled her arm out of her pj's!!!

How did she do that? Don't you need to be able to grasp your sleeve and such? This sleeper isn't too big, either. In fact, I expect it to only fit her another week or two, tops. It's a 0-3.

Crazy little girl. I should say, crazy little girl who slept last night! Yay! I really need that to become more common.

Oh! I finally saw Juno this weekend. Love that movie so hard. Seriously, I think it's my new fave. :love: Using the Celeste-method-of-movie-ratings, I agree and give it a Strong/Weak-In-No-Way.

ETA: I can't believe I forgot to post this originally... Charlotte has been laughing for a while now, in that way that she did in the video I previously posted, the "Ha! *snort*" kind of laugh. Yesterday evening, after a dinner out for Mexican food with our lifegroup, we came home and were playing on the floor - first ever full on belly laugh. *swoon* I told Jason that the wash of adrenaline and love and joy that came over me when I heard that reminded me of when the boy you had a crush on came near you, in the 7th grade. It was so awesome that she did it on a Sunday night, too, when he was here to witness it. We tried to get video, but she wouldn't do it again. Oh well. It happened, I saw it, and I love her even more.

Thanks, Suz!

Charlotte is now stocked up on lots and lots of baby legs, thanks to Suz's tip on a shop with an awesome sale going on.

My baby is MAGIC!

For the past 9 days, Charlotte has been waking up about a million times a night. Maybe a million and one. I don't know, I'm so sleep deprived I lose count. Until last night, when (thank you, God!) she slept straight through again, following her normal 10-7 routine.

I heard her stirring and starting to talk, so I went in to get her (my favorite part of the day, she's so smiley - even if she didn't sleep)... and the photo below shows what I found.

We swaddle her pretty snugly, but she CAN get her arms out. It works for us all because she loves to suck on her hands. Somehow she had wiggled all the way to the bottom corner of her crib, yet stayed swaddled, not even pulling her hands out.

I think you can tell by the look on her face how proud she was of her accomplishment.

Maybe someone came into her room in the middle of the night and moved her...

She's a year old today, but it's not her birthday...

This is a weird post, I admit. But those who know me well, know that sometimes I have weird things to say. Weird things tend to come out of my weird mind, and I'm okay with that.

That said: Today Charlotte is exactly a year old. For real! Because of the bumpy path we had to parenthood, we had to be pretty 'in the know' about the hows and the whens of everything, so that the proper medications would begin at the proper times. Exactly one year today - two cells came together and - when sprinkled with a little God magic - started to form our sweet baby girl. It would be 11 more days until her presence was confirmed, but April 17th was Day 1. How amazing is He???? So good. So very, very good.


As far as "time since birth" goes, Charlotte is now 3 months old. She laughs, talks, can almost roll over, and just today - reached out and grabbed something intentionally. Her personality is becoming more and more colorful, and how she feels about things is becoming more and more apparent. One of our favorite "Charlotte-isms" so far is 'the lip.' If you get 'the lip' you know you've done something to make her very, very unhappy.


How pathetic, yet adorable, is that?

If you haven't seen the post about Charlotte hanging out with Eliana, you have to catch it. Good times. Click here.

Family Ties... and about 1000 pictures.

We spent this last weekend down at the lake, visiting with our families. Both my dad and my little brother are home from the Middle East - at the same time! - so it was almost like a family reunion. My siblings and my dad/stepmom haven't all been together in so long... I really can't even remember the last time. Hanging out at my dad's house is so comfortable and laid back - it always involves lots of yummy meals, lots of competitive gaming (washers, spoons, darts, you name it). I'm always sad to leave.

We also had a BBQ at my moms house, where some of her neighbors came, as well as Jason's parents. Good times!

Here are some pictures from our weekend...

4 Generations of short women
(L to R, my sister, my grandma, my mom (holding C), and me)

Charlotte and her favorite aunt, my little sister, Ashley.

Just a cute baby I found on the side of the road.

Ashley was changing Charlotte into her pajamas, and Charlotte decided to run away.

Yay! Grandpa Mike's making breakfast! And coffee!!!!

Sleeping in GrannyKat's (my stepmom) arms

Get two guys (and their testosterone) together, and they like to practice their 'moves'. My dad was a police officer for 20+ years, and my brother is military... it's a whole weekend of who can "take who down". Despite the look on Brad (my brother)'s face, it is all in good fun - and usually pretty entertaining, but man! They get rough.

See - they still like each other.

Charlotte and Nana (Jason's mom)

Grandpa Mike, can I eat your pancake?

GrannyKat & Charlotte


Look at the fat rolls on that arm!! She's filled with mashed potatoes.


She chews on her hands and arms 24/7 now.


Aunt Ashley wearing Charlotte in the babyhawk.



And just for giggles...

While going through some stuff, I came across a picture of myself, in the hospital, just after I was born. I'd noticed how similar Charlotte and I looked at that age before, but I thought that the resemblance was uncanny in these shots. I wonder what she'll look like when she grows up...

Random Stuff.

Worst Mothering Moment Yet:

Charlotte has recently discovered her hands. She loves to look at them, rub them together, play with them, and especially eat them. While eating them, she claws at her face (ouch!), so I'm trying to really stay on top of her fingernails. I was clipping them today, and I got some of her skin. She screamed so bad, and it bled, and she looked at me like "why did you do that??????" I've never rocked her so hard and held her so tightly. The guilt was all consuming. Now, 45 mins later, you can barely see where I did it... but the tiny little blood stain on my t-shirt remains.

Random pictures from the last week:

After visiting Daddy at work - man, that wore her out! It's the only picture I got of her first time in a dress... (yes, she's napping on her tummy - she has great head control, I was right there, and when am I going to quit defending every decision I make??? I'm the momma! I can take care of her wonderfully, right? Well, at least as long as I don't have fingernail clippers in my hand.)




Why yes, I am a cutie pie.


She's getting so big!




This was just now, she's sleeping off the trauma...



If you have a baby, you must have one of these:

A babyhawk mei tai (my-tay) carrier.

Rocks my world - and Charlotte loves it, too. Totally customizable, gorgeous fabrics... super comfy. Even on Daddy's back! I will never use the Snugli again.

I will get better pictures soon, this is one I took just to show someone something (it's obviously horrible quality, taken in the mirror) - but Charlotte's little peeper cracks me up!



We had ours made reversible, the other side is a turquoise fabric with calaveras skulls on it... so pretty!

My heart!

I love her. You do, too, don't you??? Of course you do! How could you not?

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