One Last Beach Day Before Winter

It's funny how I used to dread Sundays as a kid. I actually strongly disliked Sundays as a child. Every Sunday evening I would get the weird, sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Turns out my sisters did as well so I don't feel like such a weirdo.

But now I love Sundays. Sunday Funday. I love any day that my handsome husband doesn't have to work. We spend his days off together, not seperately enjoying life, but together. I guess that's one thing his crazy schedule has taught us, enjoy and cherish the small amount of time that you do get to see each other. We make the most of our Sundays. We try to go to church, go out to lunch, and be productive.

A few Sundays ago, the weather was GORGEOUS so we decided to venture out to one of our favorite spots, Sullivan's Island :) We started the morning by going to church. We actually dropped Charlotte off and let her play with the little babies in the nursery. They said she did amazing. I kept looking at the screen thinking her number was going to pop up there and tell me to come get her. But she was a grown up and did awesome. We then went to lunch at one of our favorite BBQ places.

One of my other favorite things about Sundays is the NFL. Even if I'm just cleaning or cooking, I love having a game on in the background. I love the sound of the NFL. Charlotte apparently likes the NFL as well... maybe she loves the football pants :)

Salad bars are my favorite place to eat. Charlotte can be a handful at any and all restaurants so I have learned that she likes to suck on cucumbers. So when she's bored at restaurants, we ask for cucumbes. They brought her an entire cucumber. She was in heaven.

We love when she acts like a dog and carries stuff in her mouth.

Tiny toes on the sand. One of the sweetest things in the world.

Pretty pretty princess on the beach.

She decided to ditch the dress. It was totally getting in the way with the crawling.

Is this heaven?  No, it's Sullivan's Island.

I know alot of my friends and family ask me quite a bit why I live so far away. This is why I live here. This is what I can do any day that I want to.

Now for a few little beach pics of my family...

It was a perfect Sunday that we ended with perfect dinner with our friends. So thankful for Alex's days off and family time together.

Almost 90 Degrees in October??? Yes, please!

There are many wonderful things about living in the South. The fact that it was almost 90 degrees on a random Saturday in October is one of them. Yes, that was abnormally warm for this time of year and I wouldn't want it to be that warm EVERY Saturday but it was lovely.

Goose and I decided to go on a walk on the Battery in downtown Charleston.

Charlotte was loving the weather. She absolutely loves the wind in her face.

Charlotte is intrigued by water. The tide was out so the water was crashing up on the rocks. She loved that.

Yes, this is not a good picture of Charlotte but how crazy is that hair???!!! It's so long and you can actually see the length of it really well in this picture. The wind takes her breath away. I love it.

I love experimenting with my camera. Sometimes my only model cooperates, sometimes she is on a lunch break. It just kind of depends...

Profile pic

It was a perfect day for sailing, but since we don't own a sailboat, or a boat of any kind, we took it as an opportunity to point out all of the boats in the Charleston Harbor.

It was the perfect little day to just get out of the house and soak up some Vitamin D :) I'm so glad my partner in crime likes to be on the go as much as I do.

Best Friends Forever

Charlotte and Gavin are best friends forever. Gavin was born in August of 2010 and is my really good friend, Niki's son. Niki works two nights a month so she is basically a stay at home mom as well. We try to get our kiddos together once every two weeks at the least so they can play and we can have some mommy time :) It's absolutely perfect. We started by always going to restaurants for lunch. We'd spend the entire lunch fighting them, worrying they were bothering everyone around them, worrying about the mess they were making, etc. Not enjoyable. Now we go to places they can run around or we go to each other's houses.

On this particular beautiful day in the beginning of October (I'm way behind on my blogging), we decided to go to the new pier in Mt Pleasant. It was perfect for our little offspring.

They are so cute when they see each other. Charlotte loves Gavin so much. She kept reaching for him.

Gavin is a wild boy, always on the run. He is alllll boy. And when he sees the camera, he gets so excited. He starts smiling right away.

Charlotte hates the fact that she can't run after Gavin. She kept trying to climb out of her stroller.

They were so adorable as they stood and looked out at the water together. It was so exciting.

Best Friends Forever

Gavin noticed Charlotte's pacifier blowing in the wind (yes, we have one on us at all times. It's more of a security blanket for mommy than for baby.)

He reached down to grab the pacifier...

...and decided to take a little taste test of his own.

"Oh Gavin, you're so funny!!!!"  Charlotte is such a flirt.

Where'd my friend go?

She has such a beautiful little face.

It was such a beautifully perfect day with wonderful friends. Thanks for the fun Gavin and Niki.

And we ended the day with riding elephants...

Fashionista

 Charlotte has an amazing sense of style. In fact, some days we let her pick out her own outfit. She's pretty good at it. And man she loves to pick out her own bows. I just love this outfit on her though. It's a 6-9 month outfit so it's a bit big on her but she still rocks it like no other.

This outfit may have only been $3.00 at Marshalls on the clearance rack but she looked like a freaking rockstar... and she knew it. I love dressing this child. :-)

It's amazing I don't go into debt dressing this little diva.

Happy Day, friends!!

8 Months Old... Time is flying by :(

My beautiful baby girl is 8 months old!!!!

My beautiful, talented, awesome friend/mom Ashley gives updates on her kiddos on her blog and I absolutely love how she does it :) She includes all of that stats and stuff. LOVE IT. So, I shall do the same so everyone knows how she is doing!! Love it. Thanks, Ash!!

Date: October 8, 2011

Weight: 15 lbs 15 oz

(She was weighed at the doc when she was 7.5 months old)

Height: Taller than the couch

Teeth: None but her gums are really hard.

Clothing size: 3-6 months/6 months clothes

(I've been making her wear her 6-9 months clothes bc they aren't appropriate for winter. They've been a bit big but they get the job done. They are super cute and I don't want them to go to waste :) )

Naps:She is finally taking a morning nap and an afternoon nap. 

I love the days when I get at least an hour for each nap... Alot of days they are only 30 minutes and occasionally they are 2 hours. 

Sleeping: She is not sleeping through the night anymore

which I believe is associated with "tummy" issues. We are working on it. She is in bed every night by 8 pm and is up for the day usually around 8 am... but there are a few wake ups and 1-2 feedings in there.

Health: Well, she has had reflux since 2 wks old but she is off of her meds. She still spits frequently and I can tell that she still refluxes but it's nowhere near what it used to be. We have to make sure not to overfeed her though... very sensitive tummy. She has eczema all over her body. We don't get to use the baby smelling lotions, soaps, shampoos, etc. We use grown up stuff for senstive skin and she has oatmeal baths... poor thing. She takes it all in stride though. We just feel so bad for her and all of the itching that she has with it.

Eating: Charlotte loves her some food.

I'm surprised she has been able to keep such a slim figure :) She loves loves breakfast, lunch and dinner. She has cereal and fruit in the morning, vegetables for lunch, and fruit and cereal for dinner. The veggies cause crazy gas so we are not eating them for dinner before bed :) She still nurses multiple times a day and usually has 1-2 bottles of formula per day. She loves the sippy cup and is even starting to play with some of the little fingery foods like yogurt melts and stuff. She is still having reflux issues but what are you gonna do...

Activities: She's an active little booger.

Charlotte loves to jump, jump, jump in her jumpers. She started going from lying to sitting, pulling herself up in her crib constantly, and CRAWLING!! She's doing the army crawl but she's getting where she wants to go. The last few days she started crawling up on her knees more. She loves Max's cat toys and Max. She loves the books that have the noise buttons, loves playing with her wipes, and is still a huge fan of the outside.

Friends:  Charlotte loves to be around other kids.

She makes this crazy sound "Ah ah ah ah" noise. Hilarious. She goes crazy when she sees any kids. She even has dates with some "boy" friends. She is not a fan of most adults which makes getting babysitters difficult. She's going through her mommy and daddy phase and pretty much does not like anyone else. I guess there will be a day when I wish she actually liked me, you know??? Oh the seperation anxiety that she has...  

Charlotte keeps us on our toes. She has those beautiful big blue eyes with a huge sparkling personality to match. She is definitely spirited. When she wants something, she wants it. She is becoming quite the little adventurer. She is not a "chill" child although she does go with the flow alright. We can imagine have a child that sits quietly and plays. Quiet isn't really in her vocab. Oh, and she started saying "Mama" and "Dada". The sweetest words I have ever heard...

I'm going to get this blog spruced up with some help from Ash. But keep checking in. I'm going to update everyone on our happy life :)

I'm BAAAAAACK!

So, I've decided to rejoin the blogging world. I've missed this whole writing my thoughts, events, concerns, and ridiculous happenings down. Here. We. Go.

I'm a mom now. Officially.

I have an eight month old. Life is fabulous. She's hilarious... probably the cutest thing I've ever seen. I love our time together. I'm staying at home watching her grow although there has been some talk about possibly going back to work and starting to work here and there. We shall see.

There will be more to come. I'm hoping that since I'm going to start this blog again that I will start taking more pictures.

Make love, no war. Will write a real blog soon. I'm just so happy to be back.

Charlotte will appreciate this blog someday.

Pregnant women are beautiful...

Everytime I talk to my grandma and I complain about feeling fat or gross or something she says, "There is nothing more beautiful than a pregnant woman." Prior to being pregnant AND working on the postpartum/antepartum floor, I may have agreed with her.

However, now that I am pregnant and just chugging along, I've decided that feeling beautiful has not been in my vocabulary for quite some time... approximately 5 months. Here are some reasons why.... (CAUTION: I am about to be VERY blunt. Continue at your own risk.)

~ I have felt bloated since the day there were two lines on that stick. I was of course fighting a UTI like no other but even after that was treated, the bloating never ceased. Constant bloat. Constant chubby feeling.

~I have the face of a 16 year old hormonal boy. I remember the guys in high school how their faces were all oily and pimpley. That is me some weeks. Gross. I mean, I'm (sadly) almost 30 years old, do I really need to still be getting zits????? I don't remember my parents EVER having zits when they were this old... not that my memory was a steal trap back then, but you get what I'm saying.

~CANKLES!!!! AHHHHHH. My ankles have been swelling since 18 weeks of pregnancy. They've been swelling for 8 weeks now. So nasty. Some days I look like my little old ladies I used to take care of on the Med-Surg floor at St. James that had congestive heart failure. I asked my doc the other day what my BP was bc my ankles are always swollen. It was perfect. She said, "You think that's bad? Wait until you have a fat face and a fat ass then you are going to really feel pretty." Thanks Dr. D for setting things straight :) You make me excited for the next 14 weeks.

~Rectal pressure is not my friend. (Skip this part if butts and poop gross you out.) I've always had issues with my digestive tract. Always. Lately, as in the last 5 weeks or so, I have had a lot of rectal pressure after going number 2. I bought hemrrhoid pads for this problem. Do I think I have hemrrhoids? Not so much but I am willing to try whatever bc it gets to the point where I feel like I am walking funny. It's weird bc as far as I know, I am not carrying my fetus in my rectum. It is placed as it should be in my uterus. HOWEVER, rectal pressure continues on. A few days ago, I swear when the baby kicked (baby is breech right now) I swear the foot was going to come out of my rectum. He/she was doing a wonderful dance and going to town just stomping on my rectum. I was totally creeped out. I felt better when I received a text from one of my best friends saying she is having the same problem right now :) I keep the hemrrhoid pads close though. They are kind of my security blanket.

~Peeing of the pants is not so cool at 28. I think I pee my pants everyday. Sometimes it's not even associated with a sneeze. I just pee a little. Gross right?? I've decided to always keep an extra pair of underpants in my purse, book bag at work, glove compartment, lunch bag, make up bag, my pocket, wherever bc peeing your pants is just not as cool anymore. It's just gross. I mean, gross.

~Fatness is consuming me. I'm getting over the weight battle. I've gained 23 pounds so far. Oh joy. I'm tired of worrying about the weight gain. Whatever. However, my upper arms and thighs are getting so chubby. So nasty. Even though it is my third biggest fear, I have been forcing myself to look in the mirror naked lately. I'm hoping this helps me make better food choices bc stepping on the scale isn't really working....


But there are the good things about pregnancy....

I will have to touch on those for my next post. I have to get ready to go to the baby factory which sometimes reminds me of a torture chamber.

Happy Day Friends.

P.S. I love my baby and I love having him/her inside of me. I just don't understand all of the extra stuff that comes along with it.