Posts tagged parenthood

This weekend was the first weekend in 2013 that Andrew didn’t have to work and was in town.  What a blessing for us!  It was so nice to just have him here, even if he had to do a little work from home.

Another first—Andrew and I had Ellie all to ourselves Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning while Charlotte spent some quality time with her Pop-pop and Gramps and Granny in Ligonier.  She was THRILLED, and couldn’t get out the door fast enough!  She certainly doesn’t have any mommy-osis for me these days, ha!

While I don’t have any pictures from their visit, I do have a few from our alone time with sweet Ellie.  E was so happy to be able to roll all around and play with Charlotte’s toys in peace!  

When CG is around…Ellie is “not allowed” to touch her stuff.  Poor sweet baby usually gets things taken away from her. We are working on that….!

Daddy loved spending time with his baby girl.  She lights up when he is around!

Of course, even with one less child to get ready…we were STILL late for church.  Let’s just say that the girls were ready to go on time…..so that leaves one other person who shall remain unnamed ;)

It’s nice to have our girls one-on-one sometimes.  Especially for Ellie, who is such an easy going, go with the flow baby.  Sometimes with my high maintenance first born around, it’s easy to just cater to Charlotte’s needs first.  I know it is SO important to spend the time with each of these precious girls separately! <3

Today is a great day.  Middle of the week—and I get a “me” day.  So—I can blog, woohoo!  Here’s what’s happening:

• Today is the first day in almost a week that no one is sick.  Charlotte came down with an awful cold that kept her up a few nights in a row, and of course—mommy was up too.  Then—of course—mommy caught it.  We have also been snowed in and cooped up, so after the sickies and snow I am REALLY ready for spring.  Sigh.

• This morning Ellie had her 6 month check up.  I’m a smart mom, and scheduled it for 8:30am so we wouldn’t have to wait in the waiting room.  BRILLIANT!  So brilliant that the 7am wake up, get dressed, feed all the kids, throw on some clothes, pack the bag(s), scrape the snow and ice off the car and throw the kids in the back seat all to leave the house at…..8:25.  Would I schedule at this time again?  Yes.  All the rushing around was worth the “in and out” I NEVER get at the pediatrician otherwise.  Oh, and E is doing great.  25-50% for both height and weight :).  But wow, I was exhausted by 9am.  Espresso please??

• Luckily, after the craziness before 9am, my mom came to the rescue.  I can’t remember the last time I had more than an hour without the girls with me.  She offered to take them for the whole day!!  And…treated me to a mani/pedi.  My nails will be so happy!!!  I am so, so thankful.  I didn’t ask for her help—but she must have known I am in dire need of some alone time.  This full time mommy while daddy works 18798372 hours a week and Saturdays is no.joke.

• Last night the cutest thing happened.  Charlotte said “thank you” at the dinner table when I cut up extra apples for her (she is VERY polite), and I made a comment saying what a nice, polite little girl she is.  I asked, “Who taught you to say thank you so nicely?” (CLEARLY thinking she would say, mommy!).  She answered right away with….”Barney!!”.  Who says kids can’t learn anything from tv…..?

• Through all the chaos recently, I have felt myself missing the point some days.  So I have to remind myself how lucky I am to have two little girls to laugh and play with.  I know I say it all the time, but sometimes writing it down helps me to reflect and be gracious and thankful.  Andrew and I are so blessed.  I hope we can always remember that during busy season—and beyond!

I haven’t done one of these for awhile, but today is one of those “days”.

• Poor Andrew has been really sick with strep throat all week.  While I of course feel awful for him, and want him to get better—my first instinct is to go into “paranoid mode” and keep the girls FAR AWAY from his germs!  Luckily, we have our parents nearby and he stayed with his for a few days while I put the Lysol can to good use.  Thank goodness for antibiotics—he is on the mend!

• I’ve been in a bit of a blogging rut recently.  Not because I don’t have much to say—I have PLENTY to blog about.  But we are busy this time of year, and I just can’t seem to mind the time or motivation to sit down and write.  I need to start planning out some posts again.  I find that when I plan out posts, and write them in the evening before posting for the next day I can get some of my thoughts out a little better.

• I am loving Christmas this year.  Mainly…because I have 2 girls which means twice the fun with dressing them in adorable Christmas clothing!  I may have found a new hobby (or Andrew would say obsession).  I just love shopping for my girls, and dressing them up!!  They will only be little for a short time, and I know someday soon they won’t let me choose their outfits.  So I am enjoying it while I can :).

• We are all decorated for Christmas.  Andrew and I were worried Charlotte would try to play with the tree and take all the ornaments down—but she barely glanced at it!  I guess that’s the difference between boys and girls—she is very good about not touching grown up things!

• I have another new addiction.  Homeland.  I don’t think I have EVER seen a television series with better acting or plot.  I watch at least 2 episodes tonight, and think about it all the time!  If you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon—I highly recommend this series!

For more pictures and updates—follow me on Instagram and Facebook.  :)  Hope everyone is off to a great start in December!

We had a really fun Thanksgiving this year.  We switch every year who we spend Turkey day with, and this year we were with my family in Ligonier.  

This year Charlotte sat with us at the big table for our feast.  She, of course, did not touch any of the actual Thanksgiving food—instead she had oatmeal and yogurt.  My picky eater!  But she was so cute during the prayer Gramps gave.  She sat VERY quietly, held hands with Richard and Andrew and bowed her head the whole time.  It was such a sweet moment.

We enjoyed spending time together, and of course our girls were doted over the whole day.  They are just so sweet!

We missed my mom, who was just returning from China—but she was there in spirit!  Granny placed a few pictures of her around the house, and Charlotte would point to them and say, “Mimi”!

We certainly have a lot to be thankful for, I think the photos can speak for themselves:

Reading to my girls—Ellie was SO CLOSE to rolling over.

My Uncle Peter—SO handsome!

Granny and Charlotte—buddies :)

Gramps holding sweet Ellie—she warmed up to him by the end of the trip!

It was a year ago around Thanksgiving we found out we would be adding another little one to our family.  We are beyond blessed to have a sweet, healthy baby girl this year.  Another reminder of God’s blessings for our family. :)

In lieu of a traditional GRW post (because let’s face it…we are waiting on a baby—what else is there to say?!) here are some pictures of what’s been going on around here (mainly of our main girl).  Most of these photos are from Instagram—my new obsession!  If don’t already follow me (kendallleigh6) I would love to see some new faces!

Charlotte has been on a bit of a napping strike.  This photo was taken after she had “quiet time” (aka screeching time) in her crib for about 1.5 hours.  I was exhausted, so we had our own little cuddle time with Barney.

CG spent the afternoon at Mimi’s yesterday.  She is always spoiled with her grandparents—and the look on her face says it all!  I had a Dr. appointment and got some much needed laundry and last minute shopping done.  It was a nice afternoon for all!

WHO is this little Diva and what happened to my baby?!?!  I couldn’t believe this pose my mom send me while I was out yesterday.  Hand on hip, beveled toe and that smile—-wow are we going to have our hands full!  I can’t imagine where she gets the drama from?!  ;)

And for some exciting news this week: Andrew just found out he has been promoted at work!!  We are SO proud of him, and are very excited.  He works so hard and absolutely deserves this recognition :)  Charlotte clapped for her daddy at our celebration dinner out.  We love you!

Now that Charlotte is no longer a baby (tear…) and has her own personality, Andrew and I will sometimes stay up late at night talking about all the funny things she did all day long.

She is our form of entertainment.  Who needs cable?!

Some of our favorite “Charlotte-isms”:

• Charlotte loves Barney.  It’s a borderline obsession.  But her new favorite thing to do when Barney is on is to dance with the kids and actually dance to their routines!  I’m not kidding.  Charlotte will squat down and throw her arms up in the air just like the kids are doing.  She sways side to side and claps her hands on cue.  Could it be possible she will be better at picking up choreography than her “non-dancer” mama?!

• CG does a new thing, where if she is in a bad mood (and trust me….these happen almost daily around here!) she will close her eyes as if to say, “don’t look at me!”.  She knows I think it’s funny, so sometimes she will close her eyes and run across the room.  This was a bad idea, and the bump on her head shows it!

• We brought out CG’s old baby swing this weekend, and she is LOVING IT.  Unfortunately for me, I didn’t really want her to think it was for her own dolls so I only talked about using it for the new baby.  Well…about 20 mins after introducing the swing to her, I was in the kitchen and watched her take her baby doll and Barney doll, place them in the swing and start swinging it VERY roughly back and forth.  UGH!  But, I couldn’t help but smile as she then took the blankies and placed them on her friends, and “fed” them cheerios.  She is going to be an awesome big sis, but I may need to put the swing away and use something else once the real baby is here.

• The random cuddles.  These are SO sweet.  Sometimes I will be doing chores, or cooking dinner and all of a sudden I will feel the hug of a little person on my leg.  It’s the best.  I love that Charlotte loves her mama and dada so much—she is such a lovey girl, and makes me so proud! :)