Day Trippin'

We've had a pretty good week here in these parts. The winter weather has stayed at bay and springtime temperatures have prevailed! I figured that most of my maternity leave would be spent indoors with poor weather, but I actually think it's been better than when I was off in Luke in the spring/summer. When he was born, the spring was all rainy and cool, so it's been a nice surprise to have a mix of winter and spring. 

Last Friday, Luke stayed home with me and we took his bike down to my mom and dad's house where he got to practice riding. That evening we went back and Dillon practiced with him again and taught him how to brake the bike going down a hill. When we got back to the house, Luke took off his helmet and exclaimed "I'm just worn out!" Luke also had a good week at trying new foods. If you've ever had a picky eater for a child, you know this is a big deal. He tried scrambled eggs one night and really liked them and also had a cheeseburger and has requested to eat them for dinner almost every night.

Today we went up to Virginia to introduce baby Charlie to Dillon's family. She got to meet her great-granny today and a slew of cousins and aunts! It was a great day getting to catch up with everyone although we're all plum exhausted this evening. No nap for Luke means a grumpy Luke.

I have two full weeks left of maternity leave, so my heart is breaking just a little. However, we did get good(ish) news this week! I get to return to work on a part-time schedule. The -ish part is because we're having to budget like crazy to make sure we're financially able for me to do this, but it looks like it's going to work. I'll return for three days a week and the other two I'll get to be home with at least Charlie and Luke if he wants to stay home with me a few days. Luke really likes going to school so I don't want to pull him out. Plus, he's at the age now where I really think it's important for him to be in pre-school and interact with his friends. If he wants to stay with me on the Tuesdays and Thursdays I'll let him, but he'll be in school while I go to work and my mom and dad will watch Charlie those days. I'm really excited to try this schedule out and see how it works. I'm excited to be able to spend more time with my kids and to catch up on things around the house during these days too. Dillon and I have some ideas for some entrepreneurial enterprises, too, so we're working on ways to implement them. It makes going back to work a little more bearable and I'm dreading it less than I was. In the mean time, I'll enjoy every second of my last two weeks at home full time and cuddle with my little baby as much as I can because we all know she'll never be this little again.

Granny meets Charlie!

And Luke promptly found Granny's stash of Jell-O.

Aunt Glenda meets Charlie!

And cousin Terry!

<3

Luke found buried treasure in Granny's flower pot!

Pappaw Eddie gets some good snuggles!

Luke and his scrambled eggs!

Charlie at the pediatrician's office this week. She got a GREAT report and 3 shots :( But she did just great with just a few tears!

This was today before we even got out of Saltville!

2 Months!

Baby Charlie is two months old today! She weighs a whopping 11.5 pounds and is now comfortably wearing 3 month clothes. Last month she fit into 3 month clothes but I felt they were a little baggy on her and now they fit perfectly. I'd say by next month we'll be moving into 3-6 month clothes. She fits comfortably in a size one diaper, which is good because we still have 3 boxes full of this size. We may have to exchange some of the diapers if she grows out of them this month.

We're still holding steady at 4 ounces of formula at each feeding, sometimes at her last feeding of the day she'll eat 5 ounces, but for the most part we're still stuck at 4 ounces.

Charlie sleeps allll night now consistently. Our routine is quickly turning into one last feeding between 7:00 and 8:00 PM and sleeping until 6:00 or 7:00 the next morning. She does get fussy sometimes around 7:00 in the evening and fusses for no reason, but this doesn't happen every day. I would write down some of the things she doesn't like, but she really doesn't have any. She's very easy going and hardly ever fusses unless she's hungry.

Charlie's likes at 2 months:

* Watching the ceiling fans. You can turn on a fan and place her bassinet or rock n play underneath it and she'll smile and coo at it. She loves to watch it and it calms her instantly.
* Smiling. She started socially smiling about a week and a half ago and is happiest right after her bottle. She's still a pretty serious baby but talking to her makes her smiley all day long.
* Her pink fuzzy blanket. One of the physicians I work with, crocheted a blanket for her out of this yarn that is so soft and fuzzy. You can wrap Charlie up in that blanket and it's immediate snoozing. We use it for everything, too, including a blanket to lay on to wrapping her up for nap time.
* Me. She's not completely attached to me, but she does seem to prefer me to hold her. She'll fuss and be handed to me and will fall right to sleep. Napping in the crib is still not really working for us, so I guess I need to work a little harder for that.

Tomorrow is her 2 month follow up where she'll receive her first round of shots. We'll see how that goes and I'm definitely not looking forward to that. I can't believe that 2 months have passed since her arrival. It does seem that their first year always goes by so quickly, in the blink of an eye and before we know it, it'll be her first birthday.

At one month and two months. She looks like an almost completely different baby! 

Dillon yawning behind us

Charlie's Valentine's day outfit!

How crib napping is going :(

2 month outtakes!

Lola got in on the action

Valentine's Day dinner!

T-Ball Sign Ups and Smiley Babies

I've been enjoying my time at home and have been trying to clean some part of the house every day. Now that I feel pretty much back to normal, I'm enjoying doing the tasks I couldn't do while pregnant (like carrying the laundry basket downstairs). I'm also working on getting the baby to sleep in her crib. On the chance that I don't go back to work part time and she starts daycare, she has to be prepared to take naps in her crib. I don't think they can swaddle either so I'm trying to get her used to that and it's not going well. We like to cuddle to nap and she sleeps best in my arms so we'll keep persisting.

Charlie also started smiling real smiles about a week ago which has been fun. I feel like this is when their personality really starts to shine through. She turns two months old on Wednesday so I'll be sure to post about all of her progress then.

Yesterday, Luke signed up for his first t-ball season! He is so excited and can't wait for practices to begin. He really wanted to play last year but you had to be 4, and while we're still a few months short, he'll be 4 by the time games start. Practices start next month and we can't wait! Before we went to bed last night, Luke and I laid down and talked about what he thought baseball would be like. He knows he'll hit the ball with a bat and then he'll run really fast. I guess this begins our life in sports and all the craziness that ensues.

Today, we went to church with my mom and dad and it marked Charlie's first time to church. Luke loves the children's church and got to play outside (in the 70 degree weather) and Charlie was comfortable and warm in the wrap and slept on my chest the whole time. Not a peep from that little one.

Time is going so quickly and I can't believe Charlie will be two months on Wednesday and that Luke will be turning 4 in April. I've given him the option of a big party or a trip to Dollywood and he's chosen the trip to Dollywood. I like the idea of doing fun things as a family instead of big gifts so I'm excited for this too. He has so much stuff that he never even uses so I think this will work well.

Here's to warmer weather and a busy spring! :)

How I interact with her during the day when it's just the two of us... taking pictures. :D

He loves playing with her.

We ordered a heart shaped pizza for dinner on Friday!

One of my favorite pictures! 

Dillon's mom and step-dad came down last weekend and bought Luke a huge Minion balloon! This was the best picture I could get and that balloon has scared me a million times this week. HA!

I have got to stop pulling my face back like that when I smile... I don't really have that many chins. :-\

I know I shouldn't post this until Easter, but it's just so flippin' cute. I ordered Luke's Easter outfit and he had to try it on this week. :) 

Screenshot from the baby cam on my phone!

We've also tried to take more videos of the kids. We realized with Luke that we really didn't have any videos until he was about 3 months old so we're trying to do better!