Charlotte's first trip to School

Today we went to Judith's school to meet Chris' biggest fans. There is a group of boys who have been writing letters to Chris for a couple years, and we finally had the opportunity to go have lunch with them. They were so excited to meet him! Charlotte joined us and behaved until we were all done. I then went out to the car to give her a bottle, and proceeded to set off the car alarm. She then refused her bottle because it was cold... so I finally ended up just nursing her. She was much happier after that!

We made a stop for lunch then went to Chris' high school to see a few of his favorite teachers. Here are a couple of our faithful blog followers. We had no idea that people besides our family actually read the blog! 
Charlotte loves sitting with her Grammy on the porch swing! I wish we had a front porch! It's a good thing the porch is screened in because the black flies are horrible!
Nice and cosy in Grammy's arms!
Tonight we went to dinner with some friends. Chris and Corey looked especially charming with their lovely hair do's. Chris had Charlotte wrapped as usual and got quite a few looks! We keep forgetting that everything on the west coast that is popular takes a while for people on the east coast to catch on! 
Poor Charlotte is still getting used to the time change and is squaking quite a bit when she is not sleeping or eating. Poor Chris is trying to get her to sleep while I watch Grey's Anatomy. She keeps waking up and Chris remarked that he has sang her every song he knows! Keep your fingers crossed that she sleeps for us tonight!

Back on the East Coast!

We are in New Hampshire! Last night we took the red eye from San Diego to Boston and we are exhausted! Charlotte did great! So did Baylie! We made sure she was sucking on something as we took off and landed. 

Baylie was sedated for the trip. She did come out of the sedation on the car ride home, but not enough to be her normal self, which consists of chasing the passing cars and barking. She waited patiently while we got Dunkin Donuts!
Charlotte took a little nap on the bed this afternoon! 
Tonight while Fred and Chris played poker, I took Charlotte to meet Meg, my college roommate. We went out to dinner and had a great time! We can't wait for Charlotte to meet everyone in the next few days!

Last night in SD

Tomorrow night we will be on an airplane on our way back east! It will be Charlotte's first plane ride, and Baylie's 10983029th. Yes, we are flying with both the baby AND the dog... we're really looking to the fun filled evening! I got my first piece of parenting advice today from a lady in Whole Foods. She was eyeing me from across the produce section and made her way over to me. I had Charlotte in the Moby wrap and her legs were hanging out like they are suppose to, and she had babylegs on. The lady kindly said "excuse me" and I thought she might have a question about the wrap, or her babylegs, so I was polite and acknowledged her. She then said "Your baby's feet look so cold hanging out there like that". To which I told her that Charlotte was happily sleeping and her feet were just fine and she would let me know if she was uncomfortable. She kinda started to argue with me and I assured her she was fine and walked away. UGH... Anyway, Lisa and Joli came over tonight to soak up every last bit of Charlotte before we go home. Lisa had Charlotte on the floor and Charlotte rolled over for us twice! 

She then got tired and started to cry when she was on her stomach. As soon as she was on her back she was happy again!
She loves her mirror! 
She loves Lisa too!
Lisa was getting her to use her little leg muscles and stand up, assisted of course!
We can't wait to come home and see everyone! 

Catch Up

So here are a bunch of photos from the past few days. Charlotte has been doing great... She is a little piggy. We think she weighs about 11-12 pounds already! We are gearing up for our trip back east in a few days, hopefully she will cooperate! She is becoming more interested in her toys, and likes to stare at them. Chris has been playing on the floor with her a lot lately. Here they are together!

The other night Chris and I were overtired and came out into the kitchen like this... This is usually how things get broken when we goof off...
I got Charlotte a toy to go on her carseat. I know its probably not up to car seat safety standards, but Chris assures me it is fine. She LOVES it. She has been staring at the sun a lot lately.
Chris and Charlotte in the backyard. Chris so needs a haircut!
Here is Charlotte this morning on our bed. I got her little jean shorts and a hoodie and we tried it on today. She has such a big belly, but her bum is tiny! Luckily the cloth diapers help keep the shorts up! 
We took Judith and Fred to the Corvette Diner for lunch. Chris and I got cherry Cokes! Yum! 
Judith and Fred both got malts! They were yummy too!
Chris had Charlotte in the Moby wrap and she slept the whole time. I just love the little hand and foot sticking out!

A lazy day

Judith and Fred took a trip up to Santa Barbara today and are staying into tomorrow so we just hung out at home! Chris was working on the trunk again and I was talking to Grandma Dorwin while sitting outside. Here was our a snippet of our conversation:

Me: Charlotte is taking a nap right now

G: Oh, on your lap?

Me: No, in her swing. I swaddled her and decided she needs to start taking a somewhat regular nap in her bed. 

G: Oh no... Don't hit her

Me: huh?

G: You said you swatted her

Me: No I said I SWADDLED her...

Anyway... Yesterday afternoon we went to the Natural History Museum to see the Bodyworks exhibit. It was very cool if you ever get the chance to check it out I would highly recommend it! Charlotte lasted just about the whole time, but then got hungry so we went to the car and Chris gave her a bottle. She was nice and content once she was done!

I love her scowl. I wonder where she might have gotten that from!
This evening Lisa and Joli, and Lisa's friend Jessica and her son Cole came over to see us, and then we all went out to dinner. Joe's mom bought Charlotte and Joli matching dresses and we coordinated and put them on them! Joli was a bit more cooperative than Charlotte when it came to smiling for the camera!
Aren't they cute?!?!

Meeting Grammy and Grumpy

Charlotte got to meet her Grammy Judith and Grumpy Fred yesterday! We haven't decided on what Fred will be called and Judith and I think Grammy and Grumpy are pretty funny! It was really warm yesterday and today, so Charlotte has been getting to wear some of her summer clothes! Here she is yesterday with Dad waiting for Grammy and Grumpy's arival!

Since they haven't been around a new baby in about 19 years, they were a little confused on all the new gadgets, such as the boppy pillow, used for breastfeeding. Fred thought it would be a great neck pillow!
This afternoon we decided we needed to go to the coast because it was just too hot! We went to La Jolla and got sandwiches and ate them in the park overlooking the ocean! Charlotte behaved for the most part!
She was a little grumpy waiting for dad to get the stuff from the car! 
We went down to the coves so the men could snorkel. They saw all sorts of fish, a lobster and even a seal!
Judith, Charlotte and I decided to hang out in the shade on the beach. Charlotte thought it would be a great idea to take a snooze!
In the beautiful water! 

A post from Chris

In loving memory of my grandmother, Cameron Wagner, who was the first person to teach me the colors of the rainbow. When I was little I always loved the way the sun came in through the window and shone through the crystal she had hanging in the window, making little rainbows all throughout her office. She taught me the special way to remember the colors of the rainbow, ROY G BIV, which always stuck in my mind. 

A Beautiful Day

Charlotte slept last night from 9:45 until 5:10 this morning! We were shocked! It was so nice to get some sleep! She has put herself on a little bit of a schedule which is nice. She likes to be awake in the late morning so I got her dressed in her Ralph Lauren romper that I love... and she hung out in her bouncy seat for a bit!

Then she helped me get ready for the day! She is holding her head up pretty well and likes to be sitting upright, so we tried out the Bumbo again while I did my hair. I know your not suppose to put it on a counter, but I was right next to her the whole time and she doesn't like to be on the floor!

She played on the bed a little and got some tummy time!This afternoon it was BEAUTIFUL outside so Chris worked on fixing up an old trunk we bought at an antique store. I have pictures but will save it for when he is finished. We are going to use it as a toy chest in the living room for Charlotte. Baylie enjoyed soaking up the sun while he worked!
When Charlotte woke up from her afternoon nap we went out to play too!
She enjoyed her Bumbo again and we threw the ball for Baylie! Charlotte eventually got tired of being outside and we retreated to the comfort of her bounce seat in the living room! She is happily sucking on her binky and getting ready for another cat nap before we go to Lisa's for dinner!

The not so happiest place on earth...

Chris' command has this wonderful idea to have a family reintegration retreat at Disneyland, and decided to make it MANDATORY for everyone to attend. They didn't seem to care about the fact that we have a 6 week old baby. Disney is only an hour and a half away, so we packed up, asked our neighbors to let out Baylie a few times, and drove up to Disney for the night. On the way there I talked with Lisa who informed me that the line to get the room key was super long and it took them almost an hour to get checked in. When we arrived we indeed found a very long line. Charlotte was screaming because she was hungry and Chris' OIC (officer in charge) took us up to the front of the line so we didn't have to wait with Charlotte. I went to check us in and the lady told me our room wasn't ready yet. I almost strangled her. I politely informed her that we needed a room and it needed to happen quickly, to which she handed me 3 room keys and pointed me in the direction of our room. Funny how that works. The schedule of fun filled activities had us meeting downstairs at 4:30, followed by dinner until 10. We showed up and Lisa had already been drinking margaritas (without me!) by the pool and was in the right state of mind to have to deal with what would follow. It was so boring she entertained herself by making snowmen out of cheese.

The retreat started by having a Navy Psychologist who has written a book about her time in a hospital in Iraq speak. This would have been wonderful, except for the fact that no one wanted to listen to her talk about people getting killed and the soldier she couldn't keep alive. She then proceeded to read not one but TWO chapters out of her book. Needless to say no one was very happy. The guys have just gotten back from war, and they did not want to be listening to a lady telling them how horrible it was for her. So much for family reintegration! Then some man got up and started singing what sounded like a song out of a musical, and poor Charlotte did not like the noise. It was so loud! Brian held a blanket over her ears to muffle the noise!

Part of the catch to getting us to go was that there would be famous people there. There were two Medal of Honor winners, which was pretty neat, but then there were the movie stars, well just Jon Voight. He was very nice and insisted on taking a picture with us after Bill told him how badly Chris wanted a picture with him. Chris was not very happy. Chris kept joking that he was going to get up and have people come take pictures with him! It was nice of Jon Voight to show up, but when you really think about it, our guys put their lives on the line for our country, make crap for money, and hardly get recognized(which they would actually prefer). Then there are the movie stars, who play our guys in movies, and make millions. Go figure. Anyway, here we are with Jon Voight... and Bill.

Bill finally decided he wanted to hold Charlotte. Who could be afraid of a baby as sweet as her!

After dinner some country music performer got up and started playing and it was so loud it was like a concert. Charlotte started screaming and we decided it was the end of the mandatory fun. Chris was not very happy with the whole situation and we couldn't imagine a night of no sleep followed by morning of similar fun filled activities, so we proceeded to leave our hotel room and drive back home. Charlotte was much happier with this plan and slept last night for 6 hours straight!!! It was so nice of her! This morning I got up and hung her diapers and wipes out on the line and thought they looked so neat out in the sun! It is a gorgeous day, and we are much happier being home!

For more on our fun filled retreat, check out Lisa's blog!

The Joys of Parenthood

We have entered into the land of spit up! Since I have no new pictures for you, I thought I would share these fun photos! Here I am after Charlotte spit up all over me... and it was even running down my chest. I promptly handed Charlotte over to Chris and got in the shower!

Poor Charlotte post spit up. She wasn't too happy about it either!

Last night while I was outside grilling, Chris gave Charlotte a bottle. This is how she repayed him! I didn't hear him yelling my name from the living room, and finally I heard him and came running in because I thought something was on fire! This was how I found him. It even went down his back!

It all pays off though... Charlotte loves her daddy, and I love the little hand wrapped around Chris' finger. It will be the other way around in the not too distant future! 

Gifts

We have received so many wonderful gifts for Charlotte, and appreciate all of them! I just had to share a picture of this quilt that Diane (Amy's mom) made. It is absolutely gorgeous!

We got pillows today to fit in the pillow shams that Grandma made for Charlotte's bed. Aren't they so cute???
We finally got the Easter box from my Mom and Grandparents, and Chris surrounded Charlotte with the stuffed animals that were inside. I always had TONS of stuffed animals, and it seems that Charlotte will also!
Charlotte is telling dad to stop taking pictures and let me sleep!
I am amazed at how she sleeps some days! She loves to have her arms up! We went to the doctor today for a checkup for myself, but we weighed Charlotte and she was 9lb 14oz!!! We can't believe how big she is getting!