Charlotte had a great week. That child would be happy to be held all day long and she got her wish most of the day. All smiles, all week.

exploring

Camera batteries are packed....

We're still alive! We are moving. We've had a couple of paperwork setbacks and our closing was delayed to this week sometime. I packed the camera battery charger back when we thought we'd be in the house in a couple days and now I have no idea where it is. I'll unearth it soon and we'll be back in business. Today Lily Kate and Charlotte were sitting side by side (Char was supported in her boppy pillow - she can't sit yet) watching TV and LK's arm was around Charlotte. I was poised behind them to sneak a picture when my camera reminded me that the batteries were dead. Too bad. We'll show you the new house later this week.

Pool Party

I love these pictures (also stolen from Ashley!) These kids are precious. Jack calls LK "Lil' Katie" and he is very sweet to her. She was on his heels the entire visit, she LOVES him. It was so fun to see the kiddos play laugh, I only wish they saw each other more often.

Stolen

I stole these pics from my sister-in-law, Ashley. She has a new camera and some skills to go with it. My mom got the cousins some superhero PJs and they were a hit.

Breathe

I rarely post little stories but this one was too good not to share.

Yesterday was a full day, complete with my Charlotte sleeping for 30 min in place of her usual 3 hr mid-day nap. I had a Young Life meeting last night that I was scrambling to finish preparing for. Lily Kate is standing at my right hip (as usual) chattering away, "I would like-a have a diff-rint snack please, not have a 'nola bar...... I have a marsmallows?" I opened an email that I had been waiting for all day and the screen told me that it would not open because I needed to "enable macros". Maybe that makes sense to some of you, but that is Chinese to me. I sat back and said to God, "I am just so frustrated". Then I hear miss Kate, "Oh, mommy, you just have a breathe. Like this, mommy (big breathe in and out modeled by Lily Kate). She looked right at me and said "see, it's okay." It was too much for me, I was laughing and feeling tears in my eyes at the same time. Lily Kate is a child full of feelings and opinions and often struggles (as do I!) with frustration and we have been working on this slow down and breathe idea that I thought would be a better alternative than throwing her sandwich accross the room. It's hard to be 2 and have feelings and, frustrations and yet, no good words to express them. It's even hard when you do have words for the feelings! I was encouraged by my Lily Kate and I was just plain shocked that she had been listening to me all this time.

Lily Kate is stil pretty "rough & tumble". (She and her friend, Maddie were wrestling in the dirt at Parks' last softball game & laughing about it the whole time.) But, God is shaping her and developing her nurturing side. I have loved watching her with Charlotte - the way she calls her "seet baby girl" and tries to "suggle" her all the time. I am praying for her to be an encourager. Lord, thank you for that girl!

Lily Kate was begging me to let Charlotte sleep with her tonight so we settled on a 15 min cuddle time before they both went to sleep. The video below is of Charlotte's little laugh. Still, the only person she has ever laughed at is Lily Kate. Charlotte likes her best :)

My Cousin, David's Wedding in TX

David, the groom & Kathy, the mother of the groom

Charlotte with her great-grandmother (my Nana) & below cousin Scotty eating a meatball

We had a great weekend in TX. David and Heather had a beautiful & fun wedding. All of the kiddos stayed up until midnight two nights in a row and did remarkably well. Lily Kate was on Jack's heels the whole time, she thinks he hung the moon and he was incredibly patient with her. Ashley took some great pictures with her new camera so I'll need to steal some of those to document the 4 cousins playing together. Charlotte did pretty well on her first plane ride. She still doesn't sleep very well anywhere but her bed. She's a home body - too bad I'm not :) Lily Kate stuck a peanut in her nose on the plane ride home and after a couple minutes of unsuccessfully trying to remove it I was having visions of the stewardess having to ask if any one of the passengers was a doctor to remove it. No need, it came out with a few more strong blows. We made it home :)

Babies in Grass Skirts

Last night we went to the YL end of the Yr party and the theme was - you guessed it - a Luau! Charlotte wasn't too thrilled with the itchy skirt but hey, there's a price you pay for fashion. One of our leaders' mother brought her brand new puppy and Lily Kate fell in LOVE and I mean that with full emphasis. She held that puppy so many times. It was the perfect size and weight, like a little stuffed animal that licked and nuzzled - she was enamored.

Strawberry Fields

Saturday we went to pick strawberries at Lewis Farms. Ever since we have been growing vegetables in our backyard Lily Kate has been much more interested in the possibility of food growing from plants. We ran into LK's buddy, Crawford, while we were there. At first she didn't want to taste the strawberries because they "were dirty" but once she did she didn't stop. We're really trying to get a family picture where we're all looking in the same direction. Poor Charlotte, we always pick the one where she looks bad - she's too young to get a vote :)

This screaming is Charlotte's newest thing, she's found her lungs! Those of you who have spent much time with Lily Kate know that she can hit octaves so high that only dogs can hear - I'm afraid we might have another screamer :)

Evenings on the Porch...

We had a great evening last night. We finally used this bike cart that some friends gave us a while back (thanks Bartons!) that is big enough to put Charlotte's whole carrier into. She just rode along behind me and stared up at the trees & Lily Kate rode in her seat on Parks' bike. Then our favorite little buddy, Oliver, came over and hung out with us on the porch. I still haven't been successful at getting a picture of Oliver and Charlotte where neither of them are crying. I think its all the angling and the proppoing up that makes them cry. And for the record, Lily Kate's paci is "only for night night time" (this is a sentence that I say at least 3 times a day - but hey, I used to have to say it about 8 times a day!). She was coming out to get her kiss from me before Parks put her to bed. I love those girls.

Baptism

Here's the family -all in one picture, it seems near impossible to get everyone looking in the same direction but we tried. Sunday Charlotte was baptized at church. It was a special day for us to celebrate Charlotte being rooted in a family that is committed to helping her know Jesus.

Easter Morning at our church

So, yesterday morning the 2-4 yr olds sang Alive, Alive during the service. I have been listening to Lily Kate sing this song very loud and with enthusiasm around the house and in the car the last few weeks and Parks and I just laughed during the service because she didn't sing at all. BUT she shook her egg shaker with all her concentration. It was too funny. A friend's mom who was there said that Lily Kate seemed like such a quiet, calm child. Again, I just laughed.

Above, the egg hunt at church & below, the result of too much sugar.

Easter Morning

We prayed that Lily Kate would be joyful while I was pregnant with her and now sometimes we just laugh at the amount of energy and excitement that she has.

Our Long Weekend

I really enjoyed having a long weekend mainly b/c long weekends mean that we have Parks around with us. We went on a picnic at the park on Friday and spent most of Saturday in the backyard. Parks' extra hands around the house also meant that I got to spend some more time with my Charlotte. The picture below was a little bonnet that I wore when I was little. I couldn't seem to add the bonnet and keep a smile for the picture. Thanks for the Easter bib, Mom.

A day that calls for a Celebration!

Yesterday was a big day. Lily Kate helped me make spaghetti. It was really thrilling for her to dump the pasta in the boiling water (and not get splashed) and to mix the meat into the sauce. It wasn't Top Chef but it was a little life moment for her. She made dinner! This picture is her after she ate her creation. And....(only a mom would post about this). She "poo pooed the potty" for the first time. She was a little bothered by the whole thing but flushing the toilet made the experience very rewarding. I was cheering and shouting then I offered to make little bunny cakes for her. Then I realized we didn't have enough eggs and I was nervous that all my build up was going to backfire but she just said "it's alright mommy, you ok?" when she heard the disappointment in my voice. We settled on eating some ice cream (also a big treat) and watching VeggieTales.

Charlotte & Oliver

This is Oliver. He was born 16 days before Charlotte and we have big plans for them to be great friends as they grow up. I'm sure they'll be eating sand at the beach together this summer. These are some cute pics that Stephanie & Andrew took of the babies.

Sisters

This makes me laugh, I especially like Lily Kate's impersonation of Charlotte.

Sleeping Beauty

Well, there haven't been many pictures of LK lately and that is truly because I haven't been able to get her to be still enough to take one. I have a lot of deleted attempts. Here she is - in all her wiggly-ness.

I'm glad I captured this face. This silly open-mouthed grin is Charlotte's regular "I just ate and I'm loving life" face.

Sweet Girl - 11 weeks

Getting Chunky

Bumbo

It's probably time for a little update. Charlotte is 10 weeks old now! She is really sweet. I know I say that all the time but she is just so smiley. She is finally falling into a decent rhythm during the day with some consistent napping in her crib (still her least favorite place to sleep). She is still waking once to eat at night. Kate cut that out at just under 7 weeks so I was a little spoiled. I passed exhausted a couple weeks ago but I'm getting used to this sleepy state. Sometimes I look at her and think that she looks so much like Lily Kate but most of the time I think she has her own look. I think she looks more like me than like Parks - but really not exactly like either of us. When Parks is holding Charlotte and talking to her I've heard him say, "what will you be like" at least 8 or so times. We're both so curious to know her more as she grows. I'm predicting some laid back attributes - she just often seems very content. What a blessing that will be to herself (& us!) if that remains. Parks asks Lily Kate every once in a while if we should keep her or bring her back to the hospital and I agree with Lily Kate, "we gotta keep her"

Time with Daddy

Finally - we caught a smile!