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!