Charlotte's First Trip to the Beach!

Being that Drew and I grew up on the coast, needless to say we have been waiting for the day to take Charlotte to the beach! Since we no longer live in Corpus Christi, the closest beach to us is in Galveston. So we took a day trip yesterday after church to Galveston!

We had so much fun letting her experience the sand, salty water and salty air. She loved looking out at the waves and listening to the seagulls. The water was a little too chilly to really get in it but we had fun letting her feel it for a second. After we relaxed on the beach for a few hours we decided to pack it up and head over to one of the oldest and most historical restaruants in Galveston called Gaidos. It was delicious seafood and felt like we were at home :)

Can't wait to take Charlotte back to the beach this summer!

Peace! I'm headin' to the beach!

Hmm I've heard a lot about this thing called "the beach"...

gotta keep my shades on!

checkin' things out

livin' the life :)

got my sophie & bumbo... what else do I need?



mama and charlotte

feelin' the sand

hey I like this!

daddy and charlotte

feelin' the water (loving her thighs!)

our little setup

daddy and his girl!

dreamin' about the next trip to the beach :)



And the two became ONE...

Today marks Drew's and my 4 year wedding anniversary! How could the time fly by this fast? It seems like just yesterday I had just met this cute guy named Drew over at Ricky & Kristen Sparks' house and here we are 8 years later... married for 4 years... and have one precious, beautiful, adorable baby girl.

April 25, 2009 was one of the best, most magical days of my life. I married my soulmate, my best friend, and the father of my baby girl. I look back on my wedding day with such joy and happiness. I had the wedding of my dreams and it was one heck of a party afterwards! Here are some wedding pictures from that magical day.

My beautiful mama putting on my veil

my sister's putting on my garter

sweet moments before the ceremony started... we couldn't wait to see each other!

and the door opens... my sweet dad walking me down the aisle

exchanging vows

first kiss as mr. and mrs.

Our entire wedding party

husband and wife

"he made me for you and you for me... and that's more than everything"





"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11

 

Link to our wedding highlight video!

Chronicles of a New Mama (Part One)

Where do I even begin?? Becoming a mama has completely changed my life... for the better, but it is HARD! I'm so blessed to be able to stay home and be able to experience every milestone along with her. Sometimes those milestones though will make you a little crazy.

speaking of  an exciting milestone... we tried the shopping cart cover
yesterday for the first time at the grocery store... where is my
little baby? I see for sure a big girl now!



• First it all started with figuring out what the heck a growth spurt was... those happen frequently and you will know it when it happens... they get extremely clingy and want to nurse/eat constantly. For little C that happened at 2 weeks, 6 weeks (this one was a biggy!), 3 months and 4 months. Here we are now at 5 1/2 months and I'm thinking that another will be in our very close future.
• Second, I tried to figure out sleep training. After Charlotte went through the "4 Month Sleep Regression" at 4 months, I decided to loosely sleep train her at 4 1/2 months and to my surprise she did amazing! I based my sleep training on Dr. Ferber's method of going in at timed intervals to soothe her until she could learn to self-soothe herself. I can now put Charlotte down for bed following her bedtime routine flawlessly without her crying. She will now sleep for 6-7 hours until waking up to nurse again. I'm not ready to night wean her yet but we will try it at 6 months.
• Third, here we are with naps. I'm currently working on "nap training" Charlotte. She was a champ with napping up until a few weeks ago (she would nap 1 hour to sometimes 2 1/2 hours)and now here we are all of a sudden with the "45 minute intruder" or sometimes even a 18 to 22 minute nap... which is not a nap in my book, especially when she wakes up unhappy and crying. The end of the first sleep cycle is 45 minutes and the "45 minute intruder" is when they wake up after that first cycle and not go back down. This is so confusing to me because Charlotte knows how to self-soothe at night so why can't she do it at nap time?! I can now almost set a literal timer and at 45 minutes she will wake up and not go back to sleep. All the books and websites say that if a baby wakes up crying then they are not ready to be up. So.... here we are with the 2nd day of "nap training" and I'm documenting everything (her eating, playing, and sleeping times... especially her waketimes during naps).

my documents of eating, playing, sleeping and waketimes



• I've read that if you miss the "window" of opportunity of optimal time then they will either go down for a nap overtired or you might put them down too early and they will cry because they aren't ready. What the heck?? So how are you supposed to do that?? So either you will have a baby that naps too short because they are overtired or not ready. My whole goal is to get her to nap well, go down easily (without crying) and stay asleep until she wakes up happy.

I'll let you know how the rest of this week goes with nap training... it's a little like being under house arrest here. We aren't going anywhere and we are trying to avoid minimal disruptions to her day so we can get this under control and maybe on some kind of a schedule. Here's how Lucy feels about this whole "nap training"...

Wish Charlotte could learn from Lucy about naps... hehe!



My next post "chronicles" will be about getting your baby on a schedule and sticking to it, and oh yeah that scary thing that happens anywhere between 4-6 months...solids.

Old Town Spring Crawfish Festival

There's nothing like delicious crawfish, hanging with your family and good music. Drew and I took Charlotte to Old Town Spring's Crawfish Festival this past weekend in Spring, Texas. I just love old little towns and festivals! They had live music, dancing, shopping, rides and of course food. We loved listening to the Zydeco band :)

My sister, Katherine, had gotten tickets about a month ago because her family is OBSESSED with the show, Duck Dynasty. Drew and I have only seen one episode but my nephews love love love this show! Apparently one of the guys, Si, was going to be there. So, Drew and I decided to go along with them and enjoy everything else. The parking was crazy and there were soooo many people but we still had a lot of fun.

If you're interested in going they are having it again next weekend :)

these crowds and lines wear me out mom!

mmm!

love LOVE crawfish!

we can't wait to go back next year!



What We've Been Up To...

We've been out of town so much lately that it feels like staying home has been a little vacation for us. Crazy as it sounds! So this is what we've been up to this week...

working on our naps... look at those lashes!



loving our feet

trying peas for the first time... more peas please!



loving on Lucy, they're besties already :)

practicing pull-ups

and working our abs :)

making homemade chocolate chip cookis... mmm!

and making our own homemade organic baby food... more peas!



5 Months Old

Charlotte Grace,

You are growing way too fast for this mama! Your smile still lights up the room and my heart everytime you give me that big grin. You are very aware of your surroundings and Lucy is already your new best friend... a friendship that I know will last forever :) Your Daddy and I love you SO much and cannot believe we are nearing the 1/2 year mark! You bring so much joy to our lives and without you life would now not be possible.

 

I love you so much sweetheart,

Mama

 

5  month Stats

Weight: 17.7 lbs

Length: ?? I'm thinking 25 or 25.5 inches
Head: ?? I'm guessing 16.5

Eating: nursing exclusively 6-7 times a day. You tasted your first taste of rice cereal at 4.5 months and now you've branched off into trying pears, sweet potatoes and peas. You LOVE them all! You did try avocado and HATED it. I think we'll try it again in a few months.

Bedtime: still following your strict bedtime routine of bath, lotion/massage, jammies and storytime then nurse and sleep. You have now been "loosly" sleep trained... I had to let you "cry-it-out" the Ferber way after two weeks of dealing with the "4 month sleep regression." You now sleep 6.5-7 hours, wake to nurse and then go back down for another 3-4 sometimes 5 hours. You're getting there girl!

Awake: You are awake now so much! I love this because we get more time to play however, I do not get things done around the house now. You are awake sometimes up to 3 hours before taking a nap and when you do...

Naps: you only now sleep for about 30 minutes per nap! Which leads me to again not getting things done around the house. We are working very hard on getting you to only nap in your crib but occasionally I'll let you snooze in your swing still. We are almost ready to pack that thing up! That will be a VERY sad day!

Diapers: size 3

Clothes: 6 months in most brands but you can wear 6-12 in some. 6 month pjs still but your toes are getting too be a little cramped. I think we need to bust out the 9 month pjs soon.

Favorites: you love to be up all the time. you don't enjoy being on your back anymore. when you are on your back you do this little "ab stretch" because you want to be sitting up by yourself so badly. you are ALMOST there girl! you still like your bumbo, of course your fav... the swing, you are recently loving your jumperoo more. you love to watch Lucy, play with mama and daddy and you've been splashing us a lot in your bath at night... it's soo cute! oh you also like your new fancy high chair :) basically anything that you can be in that will allow you to look around and sit up  you LOVE.

Latest Tricks: you can roll from tummy to back and back to tummy (but you don't do it everytime), you are ALMOST sitting up on your own, smiling all the time, laughing out loud, you've found your voice you like to "talk" constantly... I think you will be talking in paragraphs when you do start talking :)

Child of God

Charlotte Grace on her most special day

Last weekend is a weekend we will never forget. We had Charlotte's baptism at my Dad's church in Seguin. It was incredibly special to have my Dad do the service. When my parent's took a trip to the Holy Land before I was born, my Dad brought back some water from the River Jordan intending to use one day to baptize the grandchildren with. All of my nephews and niece have been baptized with this water and Charlotte was too! He saved some for any more children that we will have! :)

 

If you know me then you know how special traditions are. Charlotte wore my mother-in-law's christening gown that she wore, her sisters wore, my husband and sister-in-law wore and all the cousins. Charlotte is the first grandchild to wear it! She also wore my bonnet and silver bracelet given to her by her great-grandmother.

 

I was so nervous that she would cry during the service but she was a complete angel baby. I think she knew it was her special day! Drew and I went up to the front along with my sister Amy and brother-in-law, Danny, who we asked to be Charlotte's Godparents. After the baptism, my Dad walked Charlotte up and down the aisles of the church while they played my FAVORITE lullaby. I have sung this song to Charlotte since the minute she was born to calm her. We sing it every night before bed with her prayers. Here's how it goes:

 

Charlotte Grace, God claims you

He helps you, protects you and loves you too

We this day do all agree a child of God you'll always be

And if you should tire or cry we will sing you this lullaby

Charlotte Grace, God claims you

He helps you, protects you and loves you too

Mommy and Daddy love you so

They want to help your faith to grow

Charlotte Grace, God claims you

He helps you, protects you and loves you too.



 After the service, all the family came back to my parent's house for lunch and dessert. Charlotte received some very special presents. Her own set of baby pearls, a cross necklace, the baptism shell necklace, a praying little stuffed animal that whispers the Lord's Prayer when you squeeze it's hands, a gorgeous picture frame to put her baptism picture in, a pink cross for her wall, engraved with her initials mini silver hair brush, comb and rattle and a Willow Tree figurine that plays Brahm's Lullaby when you twist it.

 

Thank you everyone who prayed for sweet Charlotte Sunday morning during her baptism. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful perfect daughter that is now seen in the eyes of our Lord and Savior as a Child of God.

What is the name to given to the child... Charlotte Grace

Do you promise to raise your child in the eyes of the Lord?

Charlotte Grace... I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit

Child of God

Poppa showing off his granddaughter :)

Sweet baby girl

Praying for Charlotte



With Grammy and Poppa

 

Parents and Godparents

Charlotte's Godparents... her Aunt Amy & Uncle Danny

A few weeks before we had the baptism, my mom and I took Charlotte to have her picture made in the christening gown. Here are a few of her & me that we had made to display at the lunch after the baptism and to hang in our house :)