Easter Weekend

We spent Easter in Birmingham again this year. While I love being in Dothan in my "home church" where I've spent probably 25 Easters, it's special being in my new church home where my little family gathers to worship all year. Saturday night we had dinner at the Blount's house. Juju and Steve came up on Saturday and mom made a delicious dinner. Julie had a beautiful table set and we all enjoyed a low key night!

It's impossible to get a pic of these three monkeys :)

 In a matter of weeks, Charlotte and Ann Torrence will be getting into everything! 

 They recognize each other and light up when they see each other :) :) 

 William loves exploring at Birdie and Ahdah's. They have a neat trail behind their house. 

Saturday night, after I had played Easter bunny, I heard a loud "HELLLLLPPPP" come from the basement. We soon found out our septic tank had malfunctioned and sewage was pouring from the closet into the basement bedroom where Juju and Steve were staying. Needless to say, they got out of here fast and headed to the Blount residence for the night because their bedroom was covered in sewage (EWWWW). Grant stayed up until midnight with several neighbors trying to prevent further damage :( It was terrible but has since been fixed. Drama. 

It was rainy on Easter Sunday so I didn't get too many decent pics of my little Easter blessings. Juju had Charlotte's dress made and I love it! She will wear it for the next several Easters. 

Charlotte loves looking out our front window. Mr. William loves "supervising" her every move ;)

They love each other so much. 

Here are a couple of iphone pics. My little baby doll. 

Juju and her baby girls at lunch. 

My favorite part of the weeks leading up to Easter was hearing William tell the story of the crucifixion and resurrection. He would explain "Jesus got thorns put in his hands and he bleeded a lot. Then he got put in a tomb. On Sunday, he rose from the dead and the tomb got empty." Very proud of this little boy and his growing knowledge of the Bible. 

Happy Birthday to Charlotte!

We had a very small, last minute gathering to celebrate our baby girl turning ONE! It was a stress free, fun Sunday afternoon eating cake and catching up with old friends of mine. It's hard to believe I was in elementary school with these friends 25 years ago and now we all have children of our own.

 Every first birthday for a baby girl requires pretty flowers, right?!

 Her smash cake :) I had to have Olexas do it since they did William's first birthday cake. 

 William was a VERY proud big brother and was all about Charlotte's "party."

He loves being in charge so I gave him the special task of putting candles on the cake ;)

Since Charlotte prefers to be on my hip every waking moment...the birthday girl got her wish and made mommy be in all these pics ;)

I had to share the one above because this is mid "loving her baby" (imaginary one in this pic)

Concerned big brother...who knows about what!

Baby Lila has my whole heart. I know she and Charlotte will be besties like their mommas!

A little skeptical and hesitant about her cake

So of course big brother and Quinn had to jump in and show her how it's done!

Charlotte and Collins go to Ms. Rita's together. They were done by this point. haha!

Another one of Charlotte's new silly faces!

The whole crew + a neighbor that showed up ;)

Because every birthday girl needs to end her party crying in her Daddy's lap. It was a great day celebrating our birthday girl!

12 Months Old

Our precious baby girl is one year old! She is so loving, happy, gentle, cautious, and sweet! My favorite thing in the world is scooping her up out of the crib every single morning and having her lay her head on my shoulder and then giving me an open mouth kiss on the cheek :) She likes to start off her day being held and coddled by Mommy or Daddy. Don't let this sweet angel fool you though...she is STILL waking up once/twice at night. I'm blaming the poor sleeping on teething now. She has 2 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth, and I hope we are going to get a break before any more teeth decide to come in!

 She's crawling all over the place and into everything! She sits on her knees to swipe things off the coffee table and just recently pulled herself up to a standing position. I still don't think she will walk anytime soon. 

 She's drinking whole cow milk but refuses to drink from a sippy cup. She usually has four 6 oz. bottles of milk/day. For breakfast she has cheerios and yogurt, lunch - 2 baby food pouches, and dinner (whatever we are having). She's not a great eater which is another reason I think she's waking at night for a bottle. 

 She is still taking a morning and afternoon nap. She goes to bed between 6 and 6:30 and it's a struggle to keep her up later than that! She loves chewing on her blankets and loveys, and she crawls around the house with one hanging out of her mouth. She is our family puppy :)

 She loves Mommy, Daddy and William! The three of us can always get a smile/giggle from her. She's become much more vocal but still hasn't sad Mama :( I'm working realllllly hard for that one! She is starting to love baby dolls. If you tell her to "love the baby" she will rock from side to side and say "oooooohhh" in a high pitched voice. It's probably my favorite trick of hers right now. 

 She will start at TCDC (William's school) in June and he is SO excited! Grant and I will be relieved to have them in the same daycare and together :)

 Charlotte is wearing mostly 18 month clothes, some 12 month clothes, size 3 diaper, and we haven't bought her any shoes yet. 

 I always pondered 'how will I ever love a child as much as William' before Charlotte was born. I think all mothers do...but THIS girl, she made it very easy for her Mommy. She has brought so much joy to our family over the past year, and I can't imagine life without her. 

 Happy FIRST birthday to our baby Charlotte!!!!

11 Months Old

Charlotte is 11 months old, just one month away from the big ONE. Our little girl has become busy, busy, busy this past month. She's crawling everywhere and getting into everything. We've had to be very careful with putting away all small objects because everything goes straight in her mouth. She's not pulling up to a standing position yet but she likes to sit on her knees and bounce. I don't think she will walk before her first birthday but I do think she'll be cruising the room holding onto furniture soon. We had one day of warm, sunny weather so I put her in one of the spring outfits I bought her for her 11 month pics :)

 I'm trying to teach her to "love her baby." If you say "kisses Charlotte" she drops her head and waits until you kiss her. She's also started giving us slobbery kisses :)

She had her first real sickness this past week and she's been pitiful! She was diagnosed with RSV and bronchiolitis. We're doing breathing treatments at home but there's not much else we can do. She's been waking up several times at night and not drinking/eating well. The past week has been very tough but I'm so thankful this is her first bout of sickness in her 11 months (besides the stomach bug she had when she was 7 months). I'm praying she will be feeling better soon.

She still only has 2 bottom teeth and there doesn't appear to be anymore coming in at the moment. She started eating table food over the past month and has done great with that. Her favorites are shredded turkey, cheese, sweet potato, ground beef, grilled chicken, black beans and crackers. She's drinking a 6 oz bottle every 4 hrs. She still wakes up one time at night for a bottle because I'm a huge pushover.

She's very vocal. She associates Dada with Grant but hasn't said mama on demand yet. When she's crying she'll say "mommmmaaaaahhhh" and it is the saddest thing ever! She loves strolling, splashing in the bathtub, being outside, messing up William's toys, attempting to dive down the stairs (we need to put our baby gate up ASAP), music, and watching William.

 Still loves to clap, wave, and can sort of blow kisses. 

 She's still a very easygoing, curious and happy baby. 

  We are finally seeing a little hair on that sweet, round noggin'! Charlotte Anne, we love you and can't wait to celebrate your FIRST birthday!!!