December 29, 2008

It's hard to believe, but Charlotte is one month old today!  She has been such a blessing to all of us.  It feels like she just arrived, but at the same time, I can't imagine our lives without her.  

Here's a video of the first month I put together:

Let's Get Along

I was reading a blog with Caroline on my lap a few moments ago and I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when she started "reading" a sign that was pictured in the post.  Here's the picture:  

The little 3 year old on my lap read the entire thing to me ("Cacourage udders") and told me "those are the rules."  I realized that this poster is also in her classroom at school.  Very amusing.  It also makes me feel like our money is well spent at her preschool.  

Christmas

Updated!  I was able to add the video - scroll down to the bottom of the post.  

We had a good Christmas! For some reason blogger has been giving me a hard time when I try to upload pictures, so sorry that this is a little late in getting posted.  

Caroline was a good girl (mostly) this year, so Santa brought her a "big girl bike" and a camera among other things.  She also got showered with plenty of other wonderful things from our families.  We enjoyed some good times with family and friends over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  It comes and goes quickly and we are getting back to "normal life" as we clean the house and get toys put away in Caroline's room.  Charlotte slept through most of the excitement this year, but I'm sure next year will be a whole new experience with two girls to enjoy the day.  

Here are a few pictures and a video:  

A Christmas pic of the family.  

Trying to get a Christmas picture of Mama and the girls . . .

Charlotte was quickly not having any of it.  

Caroline helping Uncle Neal open a present.  

Caroline and the "big girl bike"

Sleeping Beauty Barbie

The new camera

Jeff teaching Caroline how to ride her bike.  

Here's the video of Caroline on the bike:  

Two weeks

This post is a little belated, as Charlotte turned two weeks old on Saturday, but better late than never, right?  

Charlotte had her two week check up with the pediatrician on Friday and all is well!  She weighed 6 lbs. 11 ozs. and was 19 1/2 inches long (by the time we left the hospital she was down to 5 lbs, 15 ozs.), so she's definitely eating well.  We had to bring Caroline along to the doctor because she was hanging on to a cold that she'd had since Thanksgiving; and now big sister is doing well too and is now almost totally cough free!  Otherwise, Charlotte is doing well, still  sleeping and eating really well. 

Caroline is getting more used to the revelation that she is not the center of the universe, consequently her trips to time out have been more infrequent in recent days.  There is still that lingering jealousy though, and an episode from our life on Sunday illustrates that well.  I was feeding Charlotte on the couch while Caroline was playing in the dinning room.  Caroline then ran off to her room and returned to sit next to me with her brush, a rubber band, a bow, and the nail clippers in her hand.  She said, "Put my hair up and and cut my nails, please."  Caroline hates to have her nails clipped, so I found that to be hysterical.  I complied with her requests to make sure she felt like I was paying her enough attention and I think it did the trick.  Caroline is still loving on Charlotte a lot and loves to sing to her, hug her, kiss her, and whisper little secrets into her ears (this morning I heard Caroline say, "I love you baby sister, I so glad you not in the hospital and not in mama's tummy.").   Here are some pictures from the past week:  

 

Another video

Let it Snow!

I could not believe my eyes this morning when I woke up to feed Charlotte.  As I walked through the kitchen I glanced out the window because the light looked different than usual at that hour.  To my surprise, it was snowing!  And not just a little snow, this was a real, honest to goodness, could have been in the mountains, SNOW!  I've never seen so much snow or such big snowflakes in Louisiana.  I ran to wake up Caroline because I couldn't let her miss the first snow of her life to a few extra minutes of sleep.  Within minutes she and Jeff were suited up and ready to go play in the winter wonderland that was our yard.  My brother Neal showed up a few minutes later and the three of them had a great time playing outside.  Charlotte and I enjoyed it all from the comfort and warmth of the couch; we don't have any baby snow gear, so I thought it best not to let her really feel the first real snow of her lifetime.  

It was truly beautiful, but I'll let the pictures (and I'll try to post a video too) speak for themselves!  

Here's a video (please keep in mind that Jeff and Neal were supervising this), proof that children indeed need both fathers and mothers . . .

Caroline meets Santa!

If any of you remember Caroline's attitude toward Santa last Christmas, this picture and story will be a huge surprise.  My mom took Caroline to the mall yesterday evening to ride the carousel and just get out of the house for some one on one time.  My mom called me while they were there and asked if we minded if Caroline took her picture with Santa (in case that was something we wanted to do with her).  I didn't mind at all and of course didn't want Caroline to get upset if she couldn't meet Santa, so they went to wait in line to take a picture.  Right as it was Caroline's turn to take her picture, there was a problem with the equipment, so they told them it would be about five minutes or so before they could get going again.  Caroline took that opportunity to go have a long conversation with Santa.  Mom said that Caroline ran over to him and hugged him and had a long conversation while they waited for the camera to get working.  The picture below is proof of just how excited she was; the word that comes to mind is "joy" when I see her precious face!  

Our girls

Caroline and Jeff went off to church this morning, so Charlotte and I are hanging out in a quiet house!  I thought I'd take this chance to upload a few new pictures from the past couple of days.  Charlotte is still doing great - she rarely cries (unless she is having her diaper changed or being bathed) and she eats and sleeps like a champ.  Caroline is still doing pretty well, but she is having what I'll call some "adjustment issues" and we are trying to pay plenty of positive attention to her to discourage the acting out (nothing too serious, but she is definitely testing our limits).  She is still being very sweet with Charlotte though and asks to hug her and hold her about every other minute.    

Here are some recent pictures:

Grandma and Grandpa Beck with Caroline and Charlotte

Caroline and I spent some time playing with Play-doh yesterday morning - here's one of her creations!

Caroline and Charlotte before church this morning

Caroline loving on her "baby sister"

Hope all of you are well!  

Caroline

On Tuesday LSU had a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony and celebration.  Jeff and Caroline went and had a great time.  After the lighting of the tree they had games and food and music at the fieldhouse.  They enjoyed all of it!  As you'll see below, our brave girl had her first "rock climbing" experience and got to check out the LSU fire truck, which is always a treat.  The picture of her with the xylophone player is hysterical I think - Jeff said he was walking around playing Christmas songs and obviously Caroline had to get up close and personal with him, she was enthralled with it.  

At home

We've been home for a few days now and we're settling in to life with two girls instead of one!  Caroline has truly been such a sweet sister and a help to me.  She wants to hug and kiss Charlotte as often as possible and wants to hold her just about every other minute and she is learning to be gentle with her.  She wants to know why Charlotte sleeps all the time and when she is going to be able to play on the floor with her.  It is really hard to explain the concept of "months from now" to a three year old; if anyone has some suggestions, send them my way!  

For her part, Charlotte is a great baby (at five days old!).  She eats well and slept very well last night - the first few nights were less than ideal for me, but I endured 6 months of not great sleep with Caroline, so I am far from my limit yet!  Jeff is being a great husband and dad, taking Caroline to school and putting her to bed and helping her in the middle of the night when she is ready to get up to be with Charlotte.  This is definitely a transition for all of us and so far it is going well.  I feel great and am just so thankful to have a healthy, happy family with a tiny new blessing in it.  

Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday.   

She's here!

Charlotte Marie entered the world at 2:18 PM on Saturday, November 29, 2008!  She weighed 6 lbs. 3 oz. and was 18 inches long.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

I've put a bunch of pictures below.  The first one has a funny story:  Caroline came back to the labor and delivery room before Charlotte was born to see me and the sight of me in that bed was a little too much for one three year old.  The picture Jeff took shows exactly how close she was willing to get to me!  Caroline was excited to see Charlotte after she was born though and told all of the nurses that SHE named her Charlotte.  Caroline also made it a point to tell all of us to be sweet to her baby sister and "don't wake up my sister."  I think she is going to be a great big sister and a big help to Jeff and me.  

We are all doing well.  We came home today and we are getting settled at home with our two girls.  Thanks so much to everyone for the calls and prayers and visits and gifts; we are truly blessed with wonderful family and friends.  We look forward to having everyone get to meet our newest blessing.  

"I love my mom!"  

Charlotte on the scales . . . weighing in a little bit smaller than Caroline did.  

Caroline meets Charlotte for the first time.  

Family photo

Caroline holding Charlotte for the first time.  

Papa and Charlotte

Getting ready to go home!  

Mama and Charlotte.  

Update on our girls

We've been busy these last few weeks getting ready for our baby girl to get here and trying to enjoy Caroline's last weeks as an "only child". It's weird how excited I am about inviting our new daughter into our lives, but at the same time, it makes me sad to think that these are the last days where it will just be Caroline, Jeff, and me. We are trying to enjoy all of it!

As for the baby's progress, she is doing well. She gave us a couple of scares a week or so ago, but there's nothing to be worried about and all is well. She is making her presence known as I type by telling me to sit up straight with a hard kick to the ribs. We are likely looking at a delivery date of Dec. 2, 3, or 4th. Right at two weeks to go!

Caroline is doing well too. She was making me laugh this morning as she ran around the house in her pajamas, fairy wings, and Cinderella dress-up heels throwing a bouncy ball as hard as she could shouting "bally-ball!" Her personality is definitely her own; in many ways, she is all "girl" with her love of the color pink, all things Disney Princess, and her hair bows, but she definitely has some feisty tom-boy tendencies that I will say (going out on a limb here) come from Jeff. One of the joys of being her parent is seeing that unique personality develop as I pray that God will give me guidance to parent her well!

Caroline continues to have her own funny sayings and one somewhat recent phrase she's adopted cracks me up every time she says it. When she gets out of the bath tub at night and one of us is trying to dry her off, and because it has gotten chillier recently, she whines and complains a little before we can get her robe on her. As she's whining about being cold now, she says in a very whiny voice, "This is not comfortable!" I'm not sure where she got the word "comfortable" from, but for some reason hearing that come out of a three year old is really funny to me.

Sorority Row Trick or Treating 2008

So, it's November 11th and I'm just getting around to putting the pictures up of Caroline trick or treating on sorority row.  She had a great time!  She dressed up like Annie and we curled her hair again - she really thinks it's fabulous to have her hair "just like Annie's".  This event has gotten bigger and bigger each year that we've done it.  It's perfect for kids because they close off the street and there are tons of little kids who gets "ohhed" and "ahhed" over by all of the college girls.  One of the highlights this year for Caroline had to be for her to meet a couple of the cheerleaders and a couple of the Golden Girls.  When we watch LSU football games on TV the only thing Caroline is concerned with is where the cheerleaders and dancers are at any given moment.  Here are some pics!  

Caroline and Uncle Neal at the the Kappa house

Caroline getting geared up!

She wanted to be the first one down to the Phi Mu house to start our trek, so we headed down there a little early to get a jump start on the other kids.  

Ready to go!  

I think the expression on her face speaks louder than my words could on this one

  

Again, she was enthralled with these girls (and notice in the background, there was another "Annie" out there - I was very surprised.  She ended up being the daughter of a guy I was in youth group with at church growing up.  Small world.).

Annie hits the town!

Caroline dressed up like Sleeping Beauty for last weekend's Fall Festival, but this past weekend we spent the day in New Orleans on Saturday and she dressed up like her favorite orphan:  Annie!  

We curled her hair just for the occasion and the results were pretty amusing.  She actually like having the curlers in her hair, but I think it is because she thought they made her more like Annie.  We left Baton Rouge in the morning and drove to New Orleans and parked uptown to ride the St. Charles Avenue Street Car.  It was Caroline's first ride on the street car and she had a blast.  We rode almost up to Lee Circle and got off and came back to our car before hitting the zoo.  She enjoyed seeing the animals, and in true Caroline fashion once she saw the animal, she was ready to get moving to the next one.  

We all had a great time and the weather couldn't have been any better.  After the zoo we ate a late lunch at Louisiana Pizza Kitchen.  As we got on the road, Caroline was NOT happy at the prospect of going home, she whined about that for about three minutes and when she got quiet, we looked in the back seat and she was fast asleep.  

It was a long day of a lot of walking for those little legs of hers, so I'm sure she needed that car nap!  Here are some pictures from the day:  

Our little "Annie" before we left the house!  

Riding the street car (yes, with her curlers, she did not want to take them out for the ride)

Waiting for the street car for the return trip back uptown

"Annie" and Jeffrey before we went into the zoo (and we finally convinced her that Annie didn't wear curlers, she needed to take them OUT to have curly hair)

Checking out the sea lions

Taking a little break

Climbing the tree with a little help from Jeff

On our way out . .  it's a lot of walking for short three year old legs

Burning off some energy at Louisiana Pizza Kitchen before the drive back to BR