Visiting Auntie Carrie and Uncle Chris

Last weekend, Wayne had to go out of town on business, so Nathan, Charlotte, and I headed to Austin to visit Auntie Carrie and Uncle Chris. We left right after Charlotte's dedication. It was such a relaxing drive because both of them fell asleep as soon as we hit the highway and didn't wake up until we were pulling into Carrie's neighborhood!

We spent the first night finishing up Carrie's Christmas decorations, and then the next day, we went to Carrie's school to visit. Nathan was SOOOOOO cute there! He was not the least bit shy and was trying to act like he was one of the "big" 1st graders! He even got to participate in some of Auntie Carrie's lessons! And his favorite part was going to recess with them...all of the kids loved playing with him! All you had to do was look for the big herd of kids running around, and Nathan was right there in the middle of them :)

Charlotte was a good girl too...all she did was look happy and pretty and let everyone hold her :)




Here he is making a pattern with Fruit Loops...He loved using the glue and especially loved eating the leftovers!





Nathan loved playing in the loft...he took turns picking different kids to come up and play/read with him...he took that job very seriously!




Nathan, Charlotte, and I came home after lunch so that Nathan could take his nap...well, that didn't happen...he was too busy playing with Otis, so I let him skip it. When Carrie got home, we got her Christmas tree down and started to decorate it. Nathan was so excited to do this part!



After putting about two ornaments on the tree, he got worn out...he fell asleep on the couch around 6:00 (that's what happens when he skips his nap!) We tried to wake him up because I was afraid he wouldn't sleep well that night, but it was impossible!




But as soon as Uncle Chris got home, he got his second wind!



Doesn't the tree look pretty?!


Nathan and Otis

The next day, we got up bright and early and headed back to Carrie's school before we left town. Nathan did a reading group with the kids, went to recess again, and then said "Bye" and gave every single one of Carrie's students a hug before we hit the road :)



Charlotte with her admirers

Charlotte's Dedication

Last Sunday was Charlotte's Dedication at our church, Prestonwood. The service started at 9:15, and we had to be there by 8:30, which meant that we had to leave the house by 8:10 in order to get there and get Nathan checked into his Sunday school class. Needless to say, I was a little stressed thinking about not only getting myself ready, but getting both Nathan and Charlotte ready AND having time to take pictures beforehand. Plus, to add to the stress, Wayne had to go out of town on business and I was taking Charlotte and Nathan to Austin to visit Carrie that same day. So I spent the whole night before getting everything packed and organized. And while I tried to sleep, my mind kept spinning...Did I forget anything? Is my alarm set? Did I put that extra bottle in the diaper bag? I stayed up so long trying to think of everything that I was so exhausted the next morning and didn't hear my alarm go off at 6:00! I ended up waking up at 6:45! Luckily, we were all ready on time and even had 5 minutes to spare









Here we are before the service...






And here we are during...Mom, Dad, and Helen were right on the front row and were able to get some good pictures of us...

Pastor Graham is on the left. We shook his hand, had our picture taken with him, and then received Charlotte's very first bible.







Charlotte was such a good baby during the dedication. My parents and Wayne's mom were on the front row and got some really good pictures that I'll post later. Charlotte just laid in Wayne's arms looking at everyone and never cried. As we walked out, she fell asleep...



We gathered up our bags and went back into church to hear the rest of the service, and Charlotte slept on me the whole time! We then picked up Nathan and met our parents in the lobby.


Grandmother, Mama, and baby Charlotte



We then headed to Maggiano's for a yummy lunch. Nathan and Charlotte were both perfect during lunch. Even though Charlotte was awake, she just sat in her carrier at the table so sweetly and watched everything going on. Wayne and I are both so proud of Nathan and Charlotte. We are definitely blessed!

Charlotte is 6 Months Old

Charlotte had her 6 month birthday on Wednesday! Nathan and I took her to her doctor's appointment last week, and she weighs 17 lbs (75%) and is 25.3 inches long (50%). She is a fat and happy baby! A few weeks ago she started sitting by herself and rolling over. When she's on her tummy, she can make herself turn around, and I scoot forward a little. Crawling isn't too far way!

My only struggle with her is her night time sleep. She used to sleep all night, and I bragged and bragged about her sleeping...but in the last month, she has been waking up several times during the night. I feel like I have a newborn all over again! At first she was just waking up once so I'd feed her and she'd go back to sleep. Then it turned into two feedings in the night. During this last week, she has been up three times! I know I'm partly to blame because as soon as she starts to cry, I rush up to her because I don't want her to wake Nathan up. At least with Charlotte, I can feed her and she goes right back to sleep. Nathan, on the other hand, wants some milk then he wants me to read him a story, then rub his back, and so on...and he knows that I'll give into him too because if I've already gotten Charlotte back to sleep, I don't want him to be loud and wake her up again! I'm so exhausted, and they have both figured out how to get what they want :) So I'm getting them both a noise machine for their rooms so that they will either not wake up in the first place, or not wake up the other one. Plus we're starting baby food with Charlotte...maybe that will help too. Here are some pictures of her...we even had a wardrobe change :) The first dress is one of my baby dresses, and the second is a dress that my mom made her.







I love that she has several one of a kind "designer" dresses from Mama...keep sewing Mom!


And here is proud, big brother Nathan. He really does adore his sister and wants everyone to see her. In fact, every time we go to school, he says to Miss April "Do you want to see my baby sister?" Nathan still wants to be with her constantly. Whenever she cries, he always stops what he's doing and says, "Oh, she needs me Mommy." He is such a little man sometimes and mimics how Wayne and I talk to her. And Nathan LOVES to make her smile and laugh. When Charlotte does laugh at him, he'll say, "Is that so funny little baby? Is that just so funny?" It really is so sweet to see him talk "baby talk" to her!