An Early Birthday Party For Our Princess Part 2

We started Charlotte's birthday party celebration at Chick Fil A and then we moved on to Monkey Joe's. Charlotte has never been to Monkey Joe's. I actually had no idea what to expect from it. Niki has told me time and time again that Gavin loves it.

As soon as we got there, I got Charlotte started in the little toddler area. She was a bit unsure about it (and she really isn't the best jumper) but she thought the animals were so cool.

She loved the snail.

Gavin joined her in the toddler area... check the height he gets when he jumps!! He is a maniac!!!

We took over the area.... like we always do. Thushara and her family joined us. That brought the baby count to three (Parker, Sawyer, and Savio) and the bigger kids count to four (Charlotte, Sanya, Gavin, and Ryleigh.)

Mom was telling a story about our laugh... hence the laughing from Leslie in the previous picture.

Gavin and Charlotte were maniacs. He ran all around just helping himself to anything and everything. He taught Charlotte all of the places she could go.

Naturally she found the "drive drive" and spent most of the day pretending to play a video game.

Gavin taught her about ALL of the game....including the ATM (which he had addressed prior to running to this game)

My beautiful friend, Niki, and sweet baby Parker.

I am so thankful that Thushara brought her family to spend some time with us! I hadn't seen her since May. She had worked the night before so she was only about to get a few hours of sleep before she joined us. I finally got to meet her little man as well. He is so adorable.

Sawyer loved his Leslie.

Niki, Sanya, Gavin (he is hidden), and Charlotte climbing up to the big slide.

Gavin was a maniac. He LOVED the slide! He would climb up to it and then he would just jump down the slide! No fear!

She LOVES the slide!!!

I love Thushara's face in this one!! Like I said, we took over Monkey Joe's.

Charlotte loved going down the slide with Miss Niki.

Action shot! Thushara actually got injured on this stunt. She skinned her arm. This is a great action shot though!

Charlotte was so happy to see Parker just sitting and hanging out. She LOVES him. 

She decided it was time to just roam around the entire room with the ball poppers. 

My sweet Tracey. I wasn't able to see her in September either. She is so sweet and I miss her dearly. I am so happy she got to meet my little man.

I took Leslie off of Sawyer duty (kidding) and had her go down the slide. She loved it as well!! 

Check out her face.

I love this picture. Leslie was playing with Sanya but it looks like Sanya is trying to run from her.

Charlotte loves her Leslie. Leslie was one of her very first nurses.

She was also one of our only babysitters in Charleston and Charlotte just loved her.

We finally reached the point where we needed to have a nap or at least some rest.  Thank you ladies for bringing your sweet babes out for Charlotte's birthday. Thank you for being amazing friends. I really have no idea what I would do without you. Thank you for your friendship. We are so lucky.

An Early Birthday Party For Our Princess

One of the main reasons I wanted to make it to Charleston some time in January or February is because I wanted Charlotte to be able to enjoy a party with all of her friends. In Georgia we don't even know any animal's names let alone any people. So I wanted to make it to South Carolina around the time of her birthday so she could have a party. We had a fabulous get together for her four weeks before her real birthday! She was SO EXCITED!!

When she walked in and saw Gavin, that was all she needed. He is her best friend.

Charlotte loves Miss Brenda. She loves when Miss Brenda babysits her and plays with her. Miss Brenda is like Charlotte's "Charleston Grandmother."

We opened presents first because a few people couldn't stay for very long. Gavin was all about helping open presents.

After we finished with presents we all ordered our own food at our own pace. Charlotte decided that she would eat with Gavin and Parker. Oh how she loves these two boys. Whenever she sees Parker, she just covers him with kisses.

I mean, why eat your own food when you can eat your boyfriend's food???

After the kids finished eating, they headed into the play area. Even though I am TOTALLY freaked out by germs, I still let her play.

We have so many amazing friends in our life. At noon on a Tuesday, we took over the Chick Fil A by Tanger Outlet.

Charlotte and Gavin shared cupcakes. 

The girl just dug in! We didn't even get "Happy Birthday" out. Check out her left hand. It's holding all of the icing from her cupcake.

Sweet Ryleigh June wore a beautiful little dress :) She was so sweet!!!

I love this face!

Charlotte is just shoveling it in!!!

Get it girl!!!

Parker. Loves. Food.

Isn't he so sweet??? He just DOMINATED a cupcake.

My amazing friends....Leslie and Lori. They both got to meet Sawyer this trip back.

Mr. Paul even made it for lunch. He brought another Miss Brenda that he lives with and we all had just a fabulous time!!! (We had a BIG time as Mr. Paul would say.)

Sawyer finally got to meet his amazing Uncle Paul.

Kisses!

I look like a hedgehog but that happens. I was so happy that Melissa and Reagen got to come and play. Charlotte and Reagen are one month apart.

 This was Charlotte's face when I told her we were going to play at Monkey Joes with her best friend Gavin. She. Loves. Him.

We went ahead and trashed Chick Fil A. We left them with trash cans full of wrapping paper, ketchup all over the tables, and six girly ballooons as a thank you. Now onto Monkey Joes...

Photoshoot in Charleston

It had been MONTHS since we had been back to Charleston to see our family and friends. I knew I wanted to make a trip there to see everyone. Well, Alex was sent to Texas for work from January 6-January 11. Mom was going to come down and help with the kids anyway so we made a trip to Charleston while she was visiting. Mom flew into Atlanta on Tuesday January 8 and took the shuttle to our house. It was nice to have her at the house a day before we decided to leave because then I could get the house cleaned up and get packed up. 

On Wednesday January 9, we got up at  4 am (mom got up at 3 bc she had left her alarm set from the day before on accident). We left the house by a little after 5 am. Both kids got put in their car seats and eventually fell back to sleep. I drove the entire way to South Carolina. By the time we reached Summerville, our windows were down and we were all in fabulous moods... despite the long drive and a bit of drama.

My fabulous friend, Beth V, loves to take pictures. She is so great with her camera. I wish I could put her in my pocket and take her along in life with me but that's just kind of creepy and not possible. She is so patient with my crazy kids and so good with them. She only had a bit of time open to take pictures of the kids and that was on Wednesday. She is a busy lady and we were able to make these plans last minute. So we headed to Daniel Island for the kids' photo shoot. Charlotte LOVED the fact that Beth brought all three of her boys with her this time.

It was overcast by the time we got to the park which was perfect for these pictures...

I stopped and got some balloons on the way to get pictures with Charlotte. She was a MANIAC with these so we went ahead and put them away for later.

I tried my hand at getting some pictures as well.

Charlotte's friends shared a sucker with her.

How much do you love this hat?

Peace out.

I love how chubby his cheeks are getting!!!

A bit blurry but he can be so happy :)

We were able to meet Baby Hollis Stackley who was the sweetest little man in the world. I didn't want to touch him just in case my little crazies had a bug that I wasn't aware of. It's not worth getting a newborn sick. Charlotte was able to play with Jaxson which she LOVED. Diane looked fabulous and was doing amazing with two little ones. 

We got checked into our hotel and got settled then we headed over to the Price's house for a deliciously fabulous home cooked meal. MAN I HAVE MISSED ALYSIA'S COOKING!!!  The girl is a rockstar and learned from the very best (her Momma and her Grandmomma). It was so good to see them. Charlotte was in love with their dogs (shocking) and she loved playing with Aunt "Seasa". They got her a little Sesame Street kitchen for her birthday. Alysia put it together with the help of her brother-in-law, Gene. She did a great job... a bit of a carpenter in her. The food was great and the company was fabulous and time went by way too fast.

We had such a busy crazy day but it was a great day!!! We loved our time with Beth, the Stackleys, and the Prices. 

Stay tuned for the rest of our amazing trip to our old home...

Sawyer Month Update: Five Months

Date: January 8, 2013

Weight: Our little chubbster probably weighs 16 lbs!

Height: He comes up to Charlotte's shoulders already. I think he will pass his big sister up in the next 6 months.

Clothing: Well, our chubbster is rocking his 6 month clothes. I still try to squeeze him into a few of his 3 month clothes that I think are cute but it is apparent that he will only be able to wear them for a bit longer. I laugh because Charlotte was still able to wear a bunch of her 6 month clothes at one year. Most of his 6 month clothes fit perfectly (at 5 months). On the days we are just at home playing, I will sometimes slip a pair of capris on him....AKA 3 month pants. They look a bit ridiculous on him but since no one will be around to judge, I just let him rock them out :) I am loving this little boy clothes, though. I love being able to be the one to pick them out every once in awhile (He got so many, I haven't really had to buy him anything.) Naturally my favorite clothes of his either include a zipper or a tie.

Health: Even though he has already had a cold, Sawyer hasn't been too sick or anything. He has done really well. His reflux is actually getting better. He doesn't cry when he refluxes anymore. I do try to keep him elevated after feedings and most nights he sleeps on his tummy instead of on his back (his reflux is worse on his back). He takes his Prevacid well. He gets it once a day still. He tends to spit up quite a bit with his after feedings and I am pretty sure the reason why is because he is so busy during that time of the day. He really has been a pretty healthy little man, though. I was very nervous about it since I had to stop nursing so early on for him.

Sleeping: Again, my children are not crazy great sleepers. However, Sawyer is like clock work. When he wakes up in the morning, he is awake for two hours then goes down for his morning nap. He naps (usually in his bed or in his carseat if we need to run errands.) After a 1-2 hour nap, he wakes up. Two hours later, naptime again! I try to coordinate this nap with Charlotte's nap. I usually need to put Sawyer down before I can put her down. He takes a 1.5-2 hour nap. After his nap, he plays for another two hours then might take a 45 minute nap before dinner and baths. He plays so hard during the day :)  He usually goes to bed between 7 and 8. He wakes up around midnight or 1 and I will usually feed him. He goes back to sleep but I usually put him on a pillow (elevated bc of his reflux) between Alex and I in our bed. He sleeps usually until 5 or 6 in the morning. He still isn't the greatest sleeper but someday he will sleep great. Until then, I will just deal with it. No crying it out in my house... it traumatized child #1 so I refuse to do it to child #2.

Eating: Sawyer is rocking the eating now. He eats a bottle every 3-4 hours. He takes 4 ounces of formula with 2 Tbsp of rice cereal added to it. Because the consistency is so thick, we have to cut the hole in the nipple. Well, because of that hole, he is able to just GUZZLE that food down. Give this boy 2 minutes and there is nothing but air left in that bottle. He might wake up and take one bottle at night and on bad nights take 2 but I am ok with this. We will work on getting him to stop feeding at night once the move is over. Anytime I try to give him 5 or 6 ounces, he either spits it all up or will not take more than 4 ounces. It appears as though I am starving the poor champ but that just isn't true :) As far as his baby food goes, the boys is in love with his real food. I truly enjoy making the baby food. And he truly enjoys eating it. The only thing I have come across that he doesn't like is bananas. He yelled, gagged, and refused to eat them. We will try them again someday...but now is not the day. He really is a good eater. He eats lunch and dinner. I thicken all of his baby food as well. The doctor said not to worry about giving him cereal on it's own. He is getting enough of it through his bottles.  He grabs for food all of the time. He grabs for my food, Charlotte's food, anyone's food. As he grabs, he has his mouth open ready for a bite. He has even broken a bowl from my cereal...he grabbed it and pulled without me noticing...until it shattered on the floor of the kitchen. When he sees his bottle, he freaks out. He gets so pumped when he sees it... yelling, kicking, screaming, and grabbing for it.

Activity: Our little guy is just rolling all over. He actually loves tummy time which is something Charlotte never loved. He could lay on his tummy and play for hours. The downside to this he spits up everywhere when he has been on his tummy for too long. He can roll from one side of the room to the other though. We haven't been trying the sitting up part of things just because when he is sitting up, he crunches down on his tummy and will either upset it or make him spit up his entire feeding over the period of an hour or so. He does sit in his Bumbo some but only for a bit and it has to be about 2 hours after a feeding. He will eventually get bored with it and arch his back and fall out of the Bumbo. I see now why you are not to put those on elevated surfaces :) Sawyer would have had multiple concussions by now. I think he is going to be a mover and shaker.

Personality: Our little man. He is a happy guy. He loved his Momma. When he wants me to hold him, he starts yelling and making weird noises to get my attention... and he especially goes crazy when someone else is holding him but he would rather have me. He talks and coos and yells. He has a lot to say. You know, so many people have told me that the second child is usually pretty content with just hanging out. I say to that, "Yes, sometimes he is chill." However, I was thinking I would have this child that would literally just hang out and be happy playing with an old newspaper. Nope, our little guy loves to have the attention. He loves to be played with. And he loves his sister. Up until now, he was ok about going to sleep. Lately he has started screaming and throwing a fit and stiffening up when it is time to go to sleep... when I am rocking or cradling him. But all in all he is a great boy. He has a huge smile that just warms my heart. He loves to be talked to, played with, and he would live in the Baby Bjorn if you would let him. 

We can't wait to see what the next few months hold. I am pretty sure he will be mobile before we know it!!!!

Charlotte Month Update: Twenty Three Months

Date: January 8, 2013

Weight: The size of a peanut...and the same weight as the last 80 month updates I have posted :). No change. (At least I don't think so.)

Height: Some days she seems really tall. Some days she seems really short. However, I have no idea how tall she is :) Maybe I should only include this part of the update when we have an exact measurement.

Clothes: Size 3 diaper and mostly size 18 month clothes. I let her wear some of her 24 month clothes but most of these pants end up around her ankles after she walks around for a bit. She is rocking her size 5 shoes still. Our little peanut... I think Sawyer will be passing her up sometime in the next 6 months.

Sleeping: For someone who used to be such a terrible sleeper, she is finally rocking at the sleeping.  She takes a nap everyday...usually 2-2.5 hours after lunch. If we are out and about and driving home around lunch time, she will usually fall asleep in the car. The worse is when she wakes up when we pull in the driveway and will not go back to sleep...that makes for a LONG afternoon. She sleeps all night long (unless she falls out of bed, has a nightmare, or pees through her diaper).  She wakes up in the morning and instead of just getting out of her toddler bed, she yells, "Momma!!" or sometimes "Dadda". It is hilarious. She could just get up and go but instead she wants us to come get her. I kind of love that.

Food: We have a little Foodie here!!! She loves her food. She continues to eat allllll day.  She loves her pre-breakfast every morning... doughnuts (the powdered kind in the bag from the store). She has breakfast which consists of Eggo Waffles, cinnamon/sugar toast, cereal, or eggs if I am making a big breakfast. She usually has a morning snack of some sort... still referred to as "NACKS".  Her favorite thing to eat for lunch is "haaam and sheese". (She eats ham, cheese and mustard on a Hawaiian bread roll. She does not like any other bread with it.) After her little nap, she has a snack... usually Chex Mix, fruit, fruit snacks, candy (bad Mom), chips, pretzels, a popsicle, or more doughnuts. (As I write this, I have no idea how she only weighs around 24 lbs.) For dinner, Charlotte will eat whatever we eat... spaghetti, pot roast, Italian beef, pizza bread, chicken, mashed potatoes, soup...anything. She loves her ice cream, suckers, juice, chocolate milk, tea, and ice. I don't push her to eat. I know that if she wants to eat she will eat, if not, she won't. I know my girl will find a way to get her calories :)

Talking: Our little chatterbox just keeps talking...and talking...and talking. We LOVE it! We can't always understand her. Usually if we can't understand her, she will act it out. She calls toothpaste "BOP PEES" (That's what it sounds like.) She acts out brushing her teeth when she says this. Apparently I ask her to repeat herself many times when she says this so she finally just started acting it out each time she asked for it.  She has started (FINALLY) saying "Please" and "Thank you" instead of just saying "hmm hmm". She is able to say short sentences like "I have two yayays." One of my favorite things that she says is "So sorry" when she runs into something or does something by accident. She just says it out of the blue. I love it! She keeps learning more and more words.  We are both amazed every single day with how her talking is progressing.

Personality/Milestones:  Charlotte is determined, a bit hard headed, a ball of energy, and the sweetest girl you will ever meet... all rolled into one 2 feet tall person. She can throw a HUGE fit with kicking and screaming and horrible noises coming out of her. Then, within seconds, she is fine and acting like the sweetest girl I have ever met. She has been working on her ABC's and will repeat us when we say them one letter at a time. She can count to 2 (no, I am not lying.) She is such a great little "Mommy" to her babies and to Sawyer. She still wants to be involved with everything that he does. She is starting to play dress up.  She has the memory of an elephant (and she loves elephants so that works out nicely). She remembers the face that my Grandma Ann fell down and hurt her shoulder. She fell at the beginning of November and Charlotte found out via Skype. She remembers this still. She is finally a good little girl (95% of the time) in the car. Naturally the built in DVD player in our car helps keep her occupied.  She is learning what "nice" means. On one of her little movies that she watches, there is a mean lady. I yelled to the lady one time, "You are not nice!" Well, Charlotte heard me bc she was sitting right there. Now, every time she watches that movie and that lady shows up on the screen, she starts  yelling "NICE!" One other thing that is so hysterical that she is doing now is she associates certain physical attributes with certain people. For example, bald men are Uncle "Poopf" (John), men with bellies on them are "Papa". Young thin boys are "Rowe" (even Justin Bieber). Thin men in baseball hats are "Dadda". Thin men with facial hair are "Jeeks" (even men in magazines.)

Favorites: Charlotte still loves to play with "her" cell phone. She is always calling Jeeks, Sis, Papa, Gigis, Sam, Belle, Rowe and Didi on the phone. She loves to pretend to have grown up conversations with people. She will ramble really really fast and expect me to know what she is talking about. She loves the movie "Elf" with Will Farrell, as well as Beethoven's 2nd, Garfield, and Lady And the Tramp. She continues to be obsessed with chocolate milk...some days that being the only thing she will drink.  She loves the word "BIG" and loves to point out the "BIG TRUCKS" on the road...and the "BIG DOG DOGS" etc. She loves the the hot dog song on Mickey Mouse and Choo Choo Soul on Disney Jr. She loves dogs and cats and wants to take one home more than anything. She loves her baby dolls and taking care of all of them. She can be found pushing her stroller all day everyday with a purse hanging off of it. The girl is ALWAYS carrying a purse with random items in it...which is funny bc I don't ever carry a purse. She loves SKYPE and talking to "Meemee" and "Gigis" and "Bare" and "Papa" and "Poopf" and "Sam" and "Belle" and "Tata" (Kathy) and "Max" (Aunt Kathy's cat) and "Ween". I could go on forever about this child. She is our own personal HOT MESS.

And the exciting life of Charlotte Marie continues... Stay Tuned for 24 months!! We will have a two year old on our hands!!

One Crazy Week...

We had a crazy busy week at the beginning of January. We were in Illinois for Tyler's visitation and funeral. While we were driving TO Illinois on that Friday night (December 28), Alex called me to tell me that he a car dealership in Peoria, IL had called him and wanted him to come as soon as possible for an interview. He had gone to lunch with a man with a possible job opportunity. That man also brought a friend of his who was the manager of a car dealership. The car dealership guy really liked Alex and ended up calling him exactly one week later to set up an interview.FABULOUS!!

So, Alex decided to drive to Illinois very early on Wednesday, January 2nd. He got to mom and dad's house at about 2 pm Wednesday afternoon. He had an interview at 10 am the next morning (Thursday). The interview went well and he left with a good feeling. After his interview, we met Dad, Mom, and John for lunch then we got on the road back to Georgia with the two kids. We left Peoria area around 2 pm. The kids did well in the car...especially since they were required to spend the better part of their day in the car. We got home around 3 am. The next day was a LONG day. I took over driving in Kentucky so Alex was able to sleep quite a bit on the way home. 

Friday, January 4, Alex got a phone call about the next job. The store in Peoria offered him a job as a finance manager!!! I sent a text message to many people telling them that we are going home :) Alex and I were both ecstatic!!

Alex worked on Saturday, got home late Saturday night, and had to get up early Sunday morning because he was leaving for Texas for a week for work. He left the house at 7 am. Then there were three...

The kids and I hung out and packed in preparation for our trip to Charleston. Mom was coming to visit and go to Charleston with us. It was a busy week with many more busy weeks to come... and apparently a bunch of packing to do as well!!! :) We can't believe that this opportunity just randomly showed itself to us. It is amazing!! We can't wait to live close to family...and to have friends again!

So that was the week of January 2-January 7 (not quite a week but you know what I mean)

Now here are a few pictures to make you smile.

SHOCKING!!!!

Happy 2013!!!

Happy 2013 Everyone!!

We spent our New Year's Eve going to Tyler's funeral, running a few errands, going to a fabulous get together at the Meredith's house to meet Michael's fiance Lauren, and then the kids and I were back at Mom and Dad's house tucked in bed by around 10:30.

When the clock struck 12, I was watching Pitch Perfect in a pitch black living room with my Dad sawing logs right next to me.  It took FOREVER to get both kids to sleep. (I guess they just did not want 2012 to end.) Alex was in Georgia preparing for a trip to Illinois to possibly make a big change in our lives. It was yet another exciting New Year's Eve to say the least.

You know, 2012 was a very big year...just like 2011. We had loss and gain both years but 2012 brought the loss of our first baby together, Mr. Maximillion Pujols Jackson. I  believe that when God takes something  from you, He gives you something else to help you through. He took Max from us 1 week and 6 days before Sawyer was born. I still miss Max every single day. I can't bring myself to bury his ashes. He just remains in the little container we bought him on the mantle. I still cry when I think about how he was violently killed. But God made the timing  the way He did for a reason.

2012 brought a great deal of change for us and I think 2013 is going to bring even more.

Happy 2013 everyone. And thanks for reading my blog :) I will continue to update...even if it is at a snail's pace :)