Mommy and Charlotte!

This morning for our playdate we went to Summers Past Farms. It was a little bit of a drive, but we always love going there! Lisa promised that she would take pictures of Charlotte and I today, since I am usually the one taking the pictures! (Usually of Lisa and Charlotte, or Chris and Charlotte!) We sat down in the gardens and Joli wanted to join us! I guess she can count as a surrogate child! She was filthy from playing!Lisa sure can get Charlotte to smile! In fact, she usually spends most of her time staring or smiling at Lisa, or Joli! 
Lots of friends showed up, most of them were around Joli's age, but we still had fun. Abby was there with Syrus and Lilly. Lilly is only a couple months older than Charlotte, so they are destined to be great friends!
Charlotte is always sooo happy in the mornings! I just love to squeeze and kiss her!
We are so sad to be leaving our friends for a little vacation! Charlotte will be so big when we get back! 

Chubby Baby!

Yesterday we brought Charlotte to the pediatrician for her 4 month check up. She weighs 13lbs 10oz, is 23 inches long and her head is 43 cm around! So basically, she is short, fat and has a big head! She is in the 10th percentile for her height, 50th for her weight and 95th for her noggin!

Charlotte's doctor's office has the coolest rooms! All the rooms  have murals on  the wall and a different theme. The newborn room is the fairy room and its so pretty!
Last night we went to the drive in's to see Ice Age with Lisa and Joe. We decided this time to bring our couch cushions because Chris said his butt got numb the last time! I tested out the arrangement in the car before we left!
Today Charlotte had swimming lessons. Chris didn't have to work for more than a couple hours this morning and got to go with us! He even got in the pool with her!
Of course Lisa and Joli were there also. 
Even Chris chats with Lisa during swimming, I'm not the only one!
Chris was such a good sport and went along with all the song singing with all the other mom's. He didn't know all the songs but tried his best and Charlotte was very content!
Charlotte got to practice floating on her back!
In case you were unaware, hands are very tasty treats!
Charlotte lasted about 25 minutes with Daddy and then was ready to get out, shower and take a nap!

The day we found out!

A year ago today I found out I was pregnant with Miss. Charlotte. Chris and I had planned to start trying to get pregnant 3 months before he left for deployment. We had to time it correctly or else he wouldn't be home for the birth. It was two day's after the 4th, and I had been checking for about a week with no two line success. I skipped checking for a couple day's because I thought that it was pretty much hopeless and I wasn't pregnant. On Sunday, (the 6th) I woke up around 5 am to go to the bathroom. I figured I would do the test and go back to bed, without waiting to see if two lines showed up. I woke up a couple hours later and went back in the bathroom and looked at the strip. There were two lines! I walked into the bedroom and Chris was still asleep. I told him I thought I was pregnant. He asked me why I thought that and I just held up the strip. I went and did another test because it had been a couple hours, and the instructions tell you that after 1o minutes it could be inaccurate. So I did another, and again, a very faint second line. Chris didn't want to get too excited without being sure, and thought that the strips I had might be faulty so we decided to get a digital test when we went shopping that afternoon. After picking up the digital test and coming home, I went to do the test. The directions tell you that it takes about a minute to read the results, so to be patient. About 15 seconds later, a big PREGNANT popped up on the screen and I went running to find Chris. He was still a little apprehensive about believing it, because he didn't want to get all excited and then not have it be real! I was about to call my mom when Chris said "NO, you have to wait until we go home (7 weeks later) to tell anyone, it will be a better surprise to tell them in person!".  If you don't know me that well, I talk to my mom AT LEAST once a day, so not telling her was very difficult, but I kept the secret. He did allow me to call Lisa and tell her, and then later in the week when Amy emailed and was wondering what happened to Operation Conception Storm because she wanted to get rid of her maternity clothes, I had to tell. We told my dad first, when he came out to visit in San Diego, and he was happy for us, then told Chris' parents when we arrived for our vacation. Judith cried she was so excited. Chris' grandmother wasn't sure what we were showing her when we presented her with the ultrasound picture of Charlotte, and once we told her was so excited! When we finally saw my mom and told her, she was mad that we hadn't told her sooner and responded with "I was wondering why your face was breaking out!" Classic mother. I don't think she will ever let me live that one down. My poor mother found out just about last. (I was saving the best for last, don't worry you'll be the first to know when I'm having another). Grandma and Grandpa couldn't figure us out when we told them they were going to be "Great Grandparents". Grandma kept responding with "I know Im great...", and Grandma Eda picked up on the ultrasound picture right away and was thrilled to be getting another Great Grandchild!  And now, a year later, we have a beautiful 4 month old baby girl! 

Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 4th of July! We were very busy yesterday! We started off the day by meeting friends at the beach! We had so much stuff to bring from the car! We brought Charlotte's bounce seat, chairs, a blanket, our grill and cooler! After making several trips back to the car we decided to relax a bit! It was warm, but very breezy so Charlotte stayed covered up most of the day!

After she napped I put her little swimming outfit on her, which has UV protection in it since we can't put sunscreen on her yet! 
She took another nap on Lisa's chest for about an hour and had a nice line on her face from Lisa's bathing suit! 
We saw lots of friends who hadn't seen Charlotte in a while. Nikki scooped her right up!
Our friend Jonas was there also, and he loves Charlotte. When she started crying Jonas bounced her and shh-ed her to get her to stop! 
Robyn and Little Bear showed up a little while before we left, and Robyn got a few smiles out of Charlotte before she crashed. She hadn't seen Robyn since she was about 6 weeks old! 
We stayed at the beach for about 6 hours! We came home and gave Charlotte a bath to get all the sand off her! Then we got ready to go to Shane and Abby's for dinner and to watch fireworks! Shane and Abby have an awesome view of pretty much all of San Diego Bay. Lisa and Joe came too, but Lisa was the only one allowed to take a picture with us because she was the ONLY other person dressed in festive colors!
The sun was setting and Charlotte was getting sleepy! She took a couple little naps before we had a yummy dinner!
I left my camera outside and the three stooges thought they would take stupid pictures on my camera so I would find them later.
We went to the upstairs porch to watch fireworks. Charlotte was awake for all of them and was in a great mood!
We had a view of about five different shows on the bay, but could see three really great. We had desert while we watched then we finally packed up and came home.
Charlotte was pooped and slept from 10-5:30 this morning, then went back to sleep until 9! It was so nice to get to sleep! She was a rockstar all day yesterday! We couldn't believe how well she did with so few naps! It was a great 4th of July!

Friday with Friends!

So we have come to the conclusion that Lisa and Joe and like family now, and no longer friends and are part of our regular Friday night routine. They came over for dinner again! Charlotte was still sleeping when they got here and I finally woke her up from her nap at 6:30. (She had been asleep since 2!) She was still sleepy but decided she would play on the floor for a bit. She has become a lot more interactive and loves her giraffe! Joli was playing too and giving us her best baby impression, but most of the pictures I got were blurry or of her underwear!

Brody came too! He is going to be in for a rude awakening once Baylie gets home! We are determined for them to be friends! He played outside and this is how I found him!

Chris was awesome and grilled for us!

Charlotte joined us after dinner! Of course she was smiling at Lisa!

Grandma sent me the last two letters of Charlotte's name we had been waiting for the store to order. They don't quite stand up themselves so Lisa was creative and set them up on her bed!

Joe made us Margaritas and I must say, I think that is the key to getting Charlotte to sleep better through the night! She only woke up once last night! Wahoo! 

Thursday Playdate!

If you are a blog follower, by now you must know that Wednesday's are swim lessons, and Thursday's are play dates! Today we went to the Veteran's Museum and Memorial Center, and then to the park to play! Charlotte was ok in the Museum but then was very unhappy afterwords. I think part of the problem was that it was too hot in the sun, but too cold in the shade, and silly Mommy left her blanket in the car! Once Abby came I borrowed a blanket from her and passed her off to Lisa who brought her over to the swings and Charlotte proceeded to fall right asleep! I had Lilly so Abby could play with the toddlers, and joined them on the swings! Charlotte wasn't so sure she liked her mommy holding another baby but once she was asleep she couldn't see me! 
I told Lisa that I need to start giving her my camera so she can take pictures of Charlotte and I, not that I mind having pictures of her and Charlotte, but it would be kinda strange if I hung them on the wall! 
Abby brought lots of goodies for the kids to snack on. She even brought milk and cereal. She only had one spoon however, which meant Joli and Syrus had to practice their sharing. Joli kept trying to feed everyone the cereal! What a good helper!
Charlotte finally woke up after about an hour or so and was all snug in the blanket! She loves to watch all the kids playing!

As she woke up she started to smile at us again and was back to her happy self! 
In case you don't know, Chris has been away for the past two weeks (he came home last weekend but only for a day and a half). I don't like to post major events like that on the blog, but now that he is on his way home I thought I would share! Last week was a bit rough with Charlotte not sleeping but this week was much better! We can't wait for Chris to be home and spend some time with us!

It's Wednesday...

Swim Lessons! This is the second week in a row Charlotte has made it through the WHOLE class! She took a little nap this morning, and then got really angry so we drove around for about 45 minutes before class so she would sleep. She woke up when I stopped to get gas and I fed her before we went into swim! I think she is still a little apprehensive of the water and being tossed around during "The Wheels On The Bus". She has her eyes closed!

She starts to get a little crabby every now and then so lots of kisses makes it all better! She swallowed water twice and had a small panic attack. Once she realized she could breathe she was alright and continued on!
All the kids practice getting out of the pool and then they get to jump in! Charlotte just got to stand on the side for a few seconds before I put her back in the water so she wouldn't get too cold!
The instructor showed me how to hold her in the water so she can feel her buoyancy and start to understand that she can float. She was kicking her legs just like she was suppose to!
The Great-Grandmas have been asking if the water is too cold for her, and I want to assure everyone that the water is about 92 degrees all the time so the babies don't get cold! I think Charlotte is going to have trouble when she gets older swimming in an unheated pool!