Water Baby

It has been so warm out that Bryce and I put together Charlotte's very first baby pool to see how she would like it. She has always liked her baths so it was no surprise that she thought outside water was great fun too. Charlotte was so darn cute out there in her bathing suit splashing away even though I thought the water was a little cold. I ordered this pool from One Step Ahead, and I absolutely love it! It is the perfect amount of water for her to sit in, and you keep the hose hooked up to it so that water gets pushed through holes in the top to make a small fountain. Charlotte thought the water spraying was the coolest thing ever. As much as I am dreading bathing suit shopping for myself this year, I cannot wait to see how she acts in a real pool!






And we practice sun safety too!

Must Love Dogs

Bryce and I have always been dog people. In fact, I made it through exactly one football season our first year of marriage before I declared that I just could not live without a dog. Dogs truly are a point of joy in our lives, they bring us so much happiness and laughter and you don't know unconditional love like that of a dog. Baxter was very much like our first child; we babied him, took him everywhere with us, and bought him way too much stuff. Three years later I decided that Baxter needed someone to play with (much like some parents say when they decide to have another child) and we sought after Lola Belle. The first night was a little rough (Baxter was so freaked out that he actually had a seizure) but within a month they were running around here like best buds. We've been through a lot with these two....last summer Baxter dislocated the bones in his wrist and we have ongoing allergy issues with Lola. They have become a part of our family though so we always do whatever we can to keep them comfortable and healthy. I had to take Lola to the vet today because she has been acting absolutely pitiful and sleeping all the time and I knew when Bryce emailed me at work and said we needed to take her to the vet it was getting serious. Bryce is typically a "let's just wait and see if it gets better" type of man. So at the Vet we learned that Lola has double ear infections and an ulcer on her eye. Most likely this is due to her skin allergies. Her eyes are dry and itchy and unable to dislodge any debris and a common side effect of allergies in dogs is recurring ear infections. Who knew?! So now we have SIX medications (two for the ear and four for the eye) to try and combat these calamities and get this girl better again. I swear, if it is not one thing it's the other!


This is our very first picture of Baxter and Lola together


We came home to find Lola had tucked herself under her blanket

The most beautiful baby in the world!

Our first kids party with a baby

Bryce and I have been friends with Bobby and Alicia since college and love hanging out with them and their sweet kids whenever we can. Bobby and Alicia's little girl turned 2 so we all headed out to her (Dora the explorer) party to help celebrate. I would first like to say that I am really not that good at picking out gifts for kids. I like to pride myself on being a good gift giver but somehow I find myself over-analyzing kid gifts because I am never sure what is age appropriate and I usually end up picking out something they already have. I wish kids would do a gift registry, that would make things so much easier!
Anyway, Charlotte had such a good time playing in Ms. A's new sandbox and she got a ride in her first outdoor swing! Her face was priceless! We are definitely going to need one of those at our house soon!


Charlotte putting her feet in the sand


Having a blast on the swing


The birthday girl


Old friends are the best friends

Locks of Love

Most of you know that I have been growing my hair out for locks of love. Locks of love is an organization that makes wigs for children with hair loss (due to sickness, chemo, etc.) out of donated hair. They work only on monetary donations. I was really touched when I first heard about this charity and thought it would be such a simple way to give to someone in need. It took me a little over two years, but I finally grew the required ten inches. I went in to the salon today to have my hair cut, and my stylist pulled my hair back into two pony tails and snipped away. I can still hear the sound of the scissors in my ear! I love my new look but I am so proud of myself for staying true to what I set out to do. There are so many times I wanted to cut my hair instead of just get a trim! I didn't tell any of my students, I can't wait to see their reaction tomorrow!

Seven Months

Charlotte was born seven months ago, and I cannot even begin to fathom where the time has gone. She has taken off in leaps and bounds in the last month. Within one week she went from barely sitting up and falling over every minute or so to sitting like a pro. She is even able to reach for things and pull herself back upright again. She is up to four bottles of formula now, and I am still feeding her three times a day. I think by the end of this month she will be completely weaned. I am looking forward to the time when we can just take a bottle with us and warm it up on the go, but my last feeding will be a sad one. I have gotten so much one on one time with Charlotte this way. Charlotte has now added squash, apples, peas, bananas, carrots, peaches, prunes, and chicken to her diet and loves it when I cut up banana so she can feed herself. She not only knows her own name, but also chooses to ignore it sometimes (but smiles when she does!). She laughs and giggles and thinks peek a boo is the funnest game ever. She has also started to anticipate things like when it is time to go or I am about to leave and she will start whining. I am attempting to teach her some signs (to the delight of my deaf and hard of hearing students) but I also admit I don't always remember to do the sign when I say the word. Charlotte loves anything that makes noise right now, whether it be a rattle or a piece of paper. She still wants to put it in her mouth, but she is giving up on her oral fixation slowly but surely. She has also almost grown out of her 3-6 month clothes, it will probably be time to put them away by the end of the week and she will wear 6 month or 6-12 month. We gave up the swaddle and the pacifier this month which are two huge feats I am glad to have behind us. Our next goal is to stop the night time feedings. I tried so hard to "cry it out" over Spring Break but I can't seem to make it past an hour. My new approach is going to be heading in there with a bottle but decreasing the number of ounces by half an hour every other night. Sadly I think we've picked back up on night time feedings because she misses nursing (clearly it is not because she needs the calories!).
I think I understand now why the last child born to the family gets the bad rap of being "the baby". If I had known how independent Charlotte would come in such a short time I probably would have babied her a bit more too. She has never slept in our bed, we almost always put her in her cribs for naps, and I tried so hard to give her space to play on her own. Now I wish she would lay in bed with me and take a nap, I would love it if she would fall asleep in my arms, and she will whine at us if we are in her space for too long. And goodness I thought she was beautiful when she was born but she is absolutely gorgeous now.

Hoppy Easter!

Charlotte's first Easter was a big hit! I talked to her as we got her ready this morning about Jesus and his sacrifice for us and she seemed to be amazed....oh wait, Bryce was blowing bubbles at her. I can't wait to teach her about Jesus and have her really understand! Bryce's whole family always gathers for Easter, and it seemed like Charlotte was just passed from person to person because they hadn't seen her in so long. Growing up happens double in baby time, so she truly was a different baby than they all saw at Christmas.
Today is also the last day of Spring Break. I am trying to relish the time we had at home with Charlotte rather than begrudge the return to work. I know we will all be on a count down to summer starting tomorrow though (both the students and teachers!). This was just a little taste of how great it is to wake up late, do whatever we want to do during the day, and cuddle with Charlotte for hours on end. I think we love her more every minute if that is even possible.


We had a visit from the Easter Bunny last night. Charlotte got a so soft Giraffe to lay on, bubbles, a rubber ducky (complete with bunny ears), and two books.

Charlotte thinks this present thing is pretty cool!


I cannot wait for Christmas this year! Charlotte was really getting into her basket!


Charlotte had no idea what to think about the bubbles. She would
just blink whenever they popped.


She sure loved that shiny whirligig though!



Thank you God!


Momma and baby.....ready for Easter!


Have you ever seen a sweeter picture! Charlotte LOVES her Daddy!
Check out her TOO cute shoes! Bunnies!


Easter basket from Grandma and Grandpa F



Time for bunny ears




Love from Great-Aunt J



To celebrate with an Easter feast, Charlotte had her first taste of chicken.
My mom bought us a grinder and it worked great, Charlotte ate every bite!



Easter from Grandma and Grandpa M. Robe with matching slippers included!




On a side note, I bought Charlotte some "baby legs". I'd seen them at Target
and thought they might be a sham, but I really love them. It helps protect her
knees while she's learning to crawl, and I don't have to change a whole outfit
when it starts to get cool in the evening.

Thank you God for the food we eat, and thank you for the world so sweet. Thank you God for
the birds that sing, thank you God for everything. Thank you for my family, Thank you God for loving me.

Do it yourself baby food

My Mom stayed to help Bryce and I with Charlotte today so that we could recover from our night out. Thank God! I cannot even explain how nice it was to wake up in your own bed after 10 AM and realize your child has already been fed and dressed! I really loved having my Mom here, and we even tried our hand at making our own baby food. The pros: it is CHEAP! We made about 12 servings of everything, and our materials cost lest than $1.50 per item, it also made me feel very good to know that I had prepared Charlotte's meal and knew exactly how fresh it was. The cons: it is a bit time consuming. As with all cooking, once you have the prep work out of the way it's a breeze, but peeling and chopping takes some patience. If you have a few hours to do all of your fruits and veggies at the same time (like we did) then it is definitely worth it. Charlotte had a chance to taste green beans and home made apple sauce today....verdict is a thumbs up!


1. Peel and chop your fruit or veggie
2. Steam until very tender. We boiled the apples in water (Mom wanted to be able
to use the apple's water to flavor our other foods)
3. Grind your fruit or veggie until very fine, about half way through add two to
three tablespoons of water (this will help it mush up).
4. Separate into servings in ice cube trays.
5. Once cooled, cover the ice cube trays with a freezer bag and place in freezer.
6. After completely frozen, pop out each serving from the tray and put them back
in the freezer bag. Label with contents and date.
7. Use only what you need, you can defrost as little as one at a time.

Fresh green beans, yum.

In Wedded Bliss

Bryce and I attended a wedding yesterday for a sorority sister of mine. It was a beautiful wedding, and we really enjoyed getting to spend time with some of our old friends from college again. Another one of my KD sisters, Katie, made the comment that before she got married a wedding was just another event you had to go to, and after you get married everything about a wedding is romantic and sentimental because you think back on your own vows. I felt that was a very profound thought (especially considering we were all taking advantage of the open bar!). My Mom came up and spent the night so we could really have a night out on the town, and even though I was yawning by ten o'clock we really did enjoy ourselves. There is one thing you have to keep in mind when you have kids though, the job is still waiting for you when you come home. It doesn't really matter how late you stay out, or how badly you want to sleep in....I really recommend making sure your baby-sitter is willing to stay on board for the next day too!

I adore this picture....Charlotte was completely enamored with my Kappa Delta pin.
I hope she gets to wear it one day!


Amber, Katie, and me...one of many pictures!


My handsome husband


Kappa Delta chant.....I'll be a KD 'til I die!!

Wordless Wednesday

A whole new world

Can I just say how much fun it is to have Charlotte around? Each month gets better and better, which is hard to believe because we have been so enamored all along. You think you're having the time of your life and then Charlotte learns something new and the bar gets raised again. Charlotte is so into the world around her these days. It can be a bit distracting at times (like when it is time to eat and sleep) but she is such a curious baby and I love watching her learn. Charlotte wakes up with a smile on her face ready to go, go, go and then lays down at night like she is worn out. We are actually on day three without the swaddle, it is going much better this time around. Something about not having to worry about an alarm going off at an ungodly hour makes us relax a little more and better able to deal with the night time. It has been absolutely WONDERFUL to have Bryce's help every night and to be able to sleep in a few extra hours. I feel like a whole new person with a good nights sleep!

We had dinner with our friends from college, Andrea and Chris (and baby Nathan). Check out Charlotte holding Nathan's hand!


Andrea let us borrow one of Nathan's activity centers.... Charlotte LOVES it! She will sit in it and play the whole time Bryce and I are in the kitchen now (Bryce cooks, I clean!). Doesn't she look like such a big girl in this picture?!


And Charlotte is officially a "sitter" now. She can hold her own even though she does get a little wobbly every once in awhile.

Spring Break!

It is finally here! Everyone at school kept asking "So do you have any plans?". Yes, I have one plan and one plan only....to SLEEP! I am so looking forward to nine glorious days of sleep that I don't even know what to do with myself! Life at work has changed too, now that Charlotte is on formula during the day I have all this "extra" time. The days have been much more pleasant. I am also proud to say that we have gone one week without the pacifier. She still misses it when she lays down for a nap, but I really know it is for the best. Charlotte got a little cold this week, and I am convinced that it is because of her pacifier at daycare. Mrs. D said that she really doesn't like for the kids to have a paci because of all the germs they carry and how impossible they are to keep clean around all the kids. So, no more paci for Charlotte! More than anything, I did not want her to be "that kid" who was way too old and still begging for it. So we have survived our first cold even though it was exhausting for all. Bryce ran out to Babies R Us for a humidifier and some saline drops and those seemed to do the trick. Now it's on to a week of rest and relaxation!

Wordless Wednesday