Pumpkin carving 2012

They grow so fast

Charlotte is finally warming up to Emily.  The whole time I was pregnant I was sure that our problem would be Charlotte wanting to be TOO involved, but I really think that Charlotte getting so sick back to back when we brought Emily home and us constantly having to say "don't touch the baby" really affected Charlotte's emotional feelings towards Emily.  Now that Emily is able to smile and interact and they can play a little bit together things are looking better between them.  Charlotte is always a willing helper of pretty much anything I ask (except poopy diapers)  but she is finally asking if she can help do things that include Emily too.

After Charlotte's four year check up we realized that Charlotte is now big enough for a booster seat.  The timing actually worked out really well because Emily is ready to move out of the infant carrier too.  Charlotte could not be more excited about her big girl ride!

This one made me sad with Charlotte, and it made me sad with Emily too.  We had to drop her crib.  Your heart literally jumps out of your chest when you open the door and see your little baby's head popping over the crib and it's not supposed to be.

One last look at the not so baby Emily in her raised up crib!

Emily is sitting up with absolutely no problem, can reach forward, scoot on her bottom, lays down on her belly and rolls to wherever she wants to go.

We put the swing back up in the backyard now that Emily is a little more stable and she LOVES it.  Charlotte gets to play with her sandbox, the dogs run around, we enjoy the fall weather and AHHH.....

Eight Months

Eight months have flown by in a flash.  Emily is becoming much more mobile.  She is scooting around backwards on her hands and knees, and has this way of pushing herself on her bottom to get where she wants to go.  Or if all else fails she just rolls there.  She is trying new foods every week, and really prefers finger foods to her baby food.  She has oatmeal or rice cereal with breakfast and dinner and I mix in her fruits and veggies but she always gets something on her tray too from our meal.  Small pieces of bread, or fruit, or cheerios.  She does love yogurt and cheese, but I have to be careful about those and give her prunes with it.  She is not crazy about meat though.  Even if it is mixed with something else she knows it and spits it out.  She is still napping twice a day and gets 6 ounces of breastmilk every four hours.  She goes right to bed around 7:30 and if I get up and nurse her around 4:30 then she will keep sleeping until 8:00.  She loves it when we stack blocks so she can knock them over, and loves any toy that makes noise.  She is also making lots of noise herself.  She started "ma ma" sounds and "ba ba" sounds.  She also loves to echo.  If you make any kind of noise at her she will do it right back to you, only louder!  She will give you a wet kiss now too! She is a smiley, giggly, sweet little girl who makes our family so happy!

6 month baby pictures

We are seriously running out of wall space.  When we found Trina Riggott Photography 4 years ago, I had no idea how many of our memories she was going to be able to capture.  Here's our purple baby at 6 months....

Updates

Charlotte went to her four year old well visit, and is growing beautifully.  She is 37 pounds now (wow!) and met all her milestones.  She was able to identify all the different shapes, name colors, she uses imaginative play, hop, skips, jumps, sings.....she also passed her vision test.  I really went back and forth in my mind about how much to prep Charlotte for this doctor's visit.  I didn't want her to be afraid, but I also wanted to keep an open line of communication.  In the end, Bryce convinced me NOT to tell her about the shots ahead of time, and I told myself that if she ASKED I wouldn't lie, but that I wasn't going to come right out and tell her.  In the end, she did ask as we were in the car on our way to the doctor's office.  She got so nervous when I told her that Yes, she was getting shots today that she literally was shaking in the waiting room.  Ugh, it just breaks your heart.  She ended up with FIVE! shots that day, and my ears were ringing when we left, but she won't have to go through that again until she is eleven.  Thank Goodness!

Charlotte is doing MUCH better at school.  She doesn't cry in the mornings any more (well, about school any way....) and she's made some friends.  She REALLY loves the crafts:

 Charlotte got to pick out a fish for her birthday as well.  She chose a blue betta that has been dubbed "Razzle" (we started with Blueberry, then went to Raspberry, now we're at Razzle...or Raz for short!)

Charlotte is in LOVE with this fish.  She says good morning to it every day, and I think her very favorite thing to do all day is come home and feed him.

 Raz has actually helped us with some of our morning and bed time woes.  No more crying and screaming when it's time to wake up, Raz doesn't like loud noise :) And at night time Raz is trying to sleep, so Charlotte needs to sleep too.

 Emily is growing, growing, growing.  She is completely sitting up on her own now.  She is scooting backwards when she tries to crawl. She LOVES this jump toy my sweet co-worker let us borrow:

 Emily is going so good with her food as well.  We had one flare up with her skin when she first started baby food, but haven't seen anything else since then.  She loves all her fruits and veggies, still eating rice cereal and oatmeal twice a day, and starting to drink water from a sippy cup.

Charlotte's 4th birthday

Our baby girl is 4.  I literally cannot believe that four years have flown by or how much our lives have changed since that fateful day.  I have a feeling I'll be saying that every year!  Charlotte requested a "mermaid party" and with all the inspiration I needed from pinterest, a mermaid party was under way.  This is the first year that Charlotte's party was on her actual birthday which I thought was going to be a good thing but at the end of the day I was kind of sad.  I felt like I didn't get to spend that good quality time with Charlotte that we usually do when we take the day off work to be with her.  After everyone left for the day though Bryce and I both said it was the best party we've done.  It took us four years to get it right, but everything was so smooth and calm!

My first pinterest idea.  A balloon curtain to surprise Charlotte when she woke up.

Starting the day off right with a mermaid nightgown and some new legos to play with.

She is so stinkin' pretty.  And looking more and more like me, I think.

Friends hanging out, playing with toys.

The "loot".  Treasure chests for the boys and mermaid boxes for the girls.

This mermaid was supposed to go on the door.  Clearly I didn't read the dimensions before I ordered it.....

EVERYONE took a swing at the Pinata.  Literally everyone.  And it still wouldn't open!

Our spread included "Peanut Butter and Jellyfish" sandwiches, "submarine" sandwiches, shrimp, goldfish, and dolphin shaped watermelon.  I found the window decals on clearance at party city and twisted green crepe paper up the walls for seaweed and we were set!

Best money spent ever.  We bought this for Charlotte's birthday last year, and we have gotten so much use out of it!

Kiddos LOVED their "sea foam" AKA cotton candy.

Can you tell how much they loved it?!

Exactly four years ago I held this precious girl for the first time.

Make a wish!

Found these two kiddos hiding under Charlotte's bed eating the pinata candy.

Checking out all Charlotte's new toys.  Best birthday yet!