Whirlwind weekend

Whew. We have been so busy. I am getting ready to go back to work :( and we are gearing up for the holidays while trying to stay as stress free as possible!

Bryce's Mom is going to watch Charlotte for us when I return to work. I am so thankful that I will not have to leave her with a stranger, I'm not sure I could handle going back to work right now if I did. I did a "dry run" with Monica on Friday, so Charlotte could get used to their house and I could get used to being away. My trip time to school every day is going to be about an hour in order to be able to drop her off. I am really glad we practiced this on Friday, now I know I am going to have to pack everything the night before, and keep extras at her house and work. It took me forever to get us both out the door, and I forgot the accessories for my breast pump at home. That would have been a very long, very painful day back to work!

On Saturday we visited Chris and Andrea Sport, with their little baby Nathan. Andrea and I were roommates in college, and I love being able to spend time with her. She was so sweet to Charlotte! We also visited a Hallmark store out in Athens and I bought Charlotte's first Christmas Ornament. I have collected ONE Christopher Radko ornament every year, and I was so excited to find this one for our tree this year. I also learned that we did a good job naming Charlotte. It is a name that is not too weird, but it is also not very common. I could not find one personalized gift with her name on it!

Baby Nathan

Charlotte in her big girl jeans!

Radko ornament-Baby's First
On Sunday we finally made it to the Christmas tree farm. The tradition from my family is to go to a farm and cut down our own tree. It is my favorite memory from our Christmas' together, no matter who we were dating, when/where we were working, we always had to find time to visit the tree farm together and it was a family process to determine the ONE tree that would be ours. We always walked around and around trying to pick out the perfect one. After some convincing, Bryce was nice enough to oblige my insistence that we would carry this tradition on and we bundled Charlotte up to pick out our perfect tree. I absolutely love the smell of a real tree in your house! Charlotte didn't seem to impressed with our tradition this year (I think it was a little too cold) but I know one day she will look back at those memories and smile.

We ventured down to Scottish Rite yesterday for Charlotte's re-examination on her hip joint. I got the call from her pediatrician today that her hip looks perfectly normal for her age, so we will not have to see a surgeon or talk about any kind of treatment. I was so relieved I could literally feel weight lifted off my shoulders, God truly answered our prayers. My Mom works right by Scottish Rite, so we stopped by for a visit. It was SO cute to see my Mom showing Charlotte off to all her co-workers, she truly is a proud Grandma!! Her desk was covered with pictures of Charlotte, and everyone she works with said that Mom shows them new pictures and tells them new stories every day.

I need to go work on getting up our Christmas decorations, I feel the ticking of the clock bringing me one minute closer to returning to work. I know the next week and a half will be chaos from being gone for so long!