Visitors, Shopping, Parades and Parties!

Yes, I did fall a week behind, but these have been a very busy two weeks.

Charlotte is nearing her 8 week birthday and really becoming quite the little lady!  She loves to look around, her favorite sites being Christmas lights (or any light for that matter), the chandelier above her changing table, or your face. She will stare deep into your eyes with a very serious look on her face, like she is studying you intently, then she will give you the biggest smile you have ever seen.  It absolutely melts your heart.  She enjoys her bath very much and is also quite content in her bouncy seat or play gym.  She naps in between each feeding still and is starting to sleep until about 5 in the morning.  These past few nights she has had a little trouble going to sleep, but with some comforting from daddy, she goes right down. She is really holding her head up well and will even stand on your lap to look around.  I think we are about to hit the 10 pound mark, but we will know for sure at her next doctor's appointment.

The past two weeks have been filled with fun activities.  Her Auntie Jenny (my college roommate) came to meet Charlotte and spend a few days with us. It was so wonderful to catch up and spend some time together.  The weather was crummy so we spent most of our time chatting in front of the fire. We did venture out on Saturday night to attend the Christmas Parade. It was fun to meet up with friends and watch the parade. Charlotte was underwhelmed and slept the entire time.  Jenny's visit went too quickly and Charlotte and I took her back down to Sacramento.  Since we were driving all that way, we decided to do some shopping.  This was my first big outing with Charlotte on my own.  No surprise, she did amazingly well!  Slept the whole way down, hung out in her Moby while we shopped, and slept the whole way back.  It was a long day, but very fun!

This past weekend, Jeremy and I hosted our Home Group Christmas Party. It was a total blast!  There was an ugly Christmas sweater contest, some other silly Christmas games, and a very intense gift exchange.  We are so blessed to have such an incredibly fun community of friends.  Charlotte slept through the whole party and made her appearance at the end of the night.

Snuggled in at the Christmas Parade

Nice and warm

Uncle Greg brought a special present from SF

Go Giants!

First shopping trip

Ready for the Christmas Party

The finalist for the ugly sweater contest

The men's division

Eric and his "prize"

Too much excitement for Abbey

Ugly sweaters

Everyday I wake up and stare at this little miracle with joy and love.  I can't believe how much grace and love God shows us by blessing us with such a gift.  We love her and are so lucky to have her in our family.

A Week of Firsts

This past week was a very exciting one for Charlotte.  It was filled with firsts! First Thanksgiving, first time up to McCloud, first snow, first time in 0-3 month clothing (and it actually fitting).

It is amazing to see her changing each day.  Every morning after she eats, we sit and play in the chair.  She is starting to smile and mimic some of my faces now, it is so incredibly precious.  She continues to be an absolute angel baby.  She is completely content with life.  You can do no wrong by her.
Bouncy chair? Sure, that's fun.
Floor jungle gym? Love it!
Hold me and talk to me? Absolutely!
Wrap me up and take a nap? Anytime!
Sleep 4-6 hours at night? Of course!

She is so sweet and gentle.  I have been told by Jeremy's family that she inherited his temperament.  From what I've been told, she sure didn't get mine!  I continue to fall more and more in love with her every day.

Charlotte's First Thanksgiving:
In the morning we spent some time working around the house. Jeremy has been making great progress on the family room, putting up all the trim work. We are so close to finishing that room!  At 2:00 we headed over to Jeremy's Aunt and Uncle's house for a big family Thanksgiving meal.  Charlotte had her Thanksgiving dress on and looked adorable! She was wide awake and spent the afternoon talking to all the family.  She got to meet her great grandparents for the first time which was very exciting.  By the time we were ready for dinner, she was ready for a nap.  She very sweetly slept in a basket next to me while I enjoyed an incredible feast with the family.  After dinner we headed over to my parent's house for some dessert.  All the family was still there and we enjoyed spending some time with them.  Charlotte was pretty worn out at this point and mostly slept.
We got home and put her to bed.
Her first holiday ever.  Our first holiday as a family.  What a blessed day.  We have more to be thankful for than ever before.  More than we could ever name.

                                             

                          My Thanksgiving Dress

                                                     

                                            Meeting Great Grandma

Tired after a long, exciting day

Charlotte's First Snow:
Saturday after Thanksgiving we loaded up the car and headed to McCloud to spend the day in the snow.  It was snowing  8 miles north of Redding, and continued to snow the whole drive. Charlotte slept the entire car ride.  I, however, was a nervous wreck.  Jeremy is a fantastic driver, the Highlander has great tires and 4 wheel drive. There was no reason for me to be so nervous; but maybe having my baby girl in the backseat, or postpartum hormones, or a combination of both, put me over the edge.  Luckily, I have an extremely patient husband who drove like a snail and stayed a mile away from any other vehicle just to placate his irrational wife.  We made it safely to the snow and spent the day enjoying the fire and the beauty of the winter wonderland. We of course had to be obnoxious parents and put Charlotte in her snow suit and take a million pictures of her. Why else do you take a newborn to the snow?  It was a wonderful first trip, with many many more to come.  We know that Charlotte (and her siblings) will love spending weekends up there. Snowboarding, hiking, fishing, swimming. The fun is endless and we are so thankful that she will have that as a second home.

And a few more pictures from the week, just because she is so cute!

An exciting and monumental week for our precious little girl.  Hard to believe she is almost 1 1/2 months already.  I am savoring every second with this little miracle.

One Month

Happy one month birthday to my precious baby girl.

What an exciting month it has been.  Charlotte has made brought us so much joy over the past four weeks, it is hard to think about our lives before we were blessed with her.

Here is the one month update:
Newborn clothes are finally starting to get a little small, maybe thinking about venturing into 0-3 month land
Long wake periods after feedings
Given 2 big smiles (while awake) One to Dad and one to Mom
Making great eye contact and starting to track a little bit
Madly in love with lights, could stare at them all day
Sleeping 5-6 hours at night and eating every 3 during the day (per mom's direction)
Put yourself to sleep for naps and bedtime
Starting napping in your own crib, still sleeping in mom and dad's room at night
Had your first trip to Costco and was very underwhelmed by it
Watched your first Ultimate Frisbee game and cheered Daddy on
Been to Church 4 times, especially love the music
Had your first family Poker night

It's amazing to me that I could love this little person so much it hurts, and every day it seems to get stronger and stronger.  You don't think you could love them anymore, and then the next morning you look at her sweet little face and your love grows even deeper.

3 Weeks

I cannot believe we have had this little miracle in our family for 3 weeks now. We are so in love with her. Here is an update on her progress:

7 pounds 6 oz (almost gained 1 pound in two weeks)
20 inches long
A little jaundiced still, but all labs are normal, so nothing to worry about
Starting to have more awake time
Recognizing voices and turning head to find them (especially daddy)
Sleeping up to 5 hours at night
Been to church 3 times and thoroughly enjoys it
Loves our morning walks
Still swimming in her newborn clothes
Loving our cloth diapers (Finally! Took a little laundry tweaking to get them working properly)
Not a huge fan of the carseat
Loves to sit in her bouncey chair under the bathroom heater naked

I think that's about it for our updates, she is really the best baby I could have asked for! She is so laid back, really doesn't cry, puts herself to sleep, everything a momma could want!

We left her for one hour last night at my parents so we could go to the gym. It was the first time I had ever been away from her. I cried the whole way to the gym. :) She was of course a very good girl and my parents said they loved watching her.

She got to meet her Uncle Miller as he was passing through Redding on Saturday. They hit it off well :)

We don't go back for another weight check for 6 more weeks, so we will gauge her growth on how well her clothes fit :)

Here are some pictures of the past week... ENJOY!

2 Weeks

Dear Charlotte Grace,

It was 2 weeks ago today that we walked through the doors of our home and started our new life with you. Every second has been a treasure and a blessing. You are the most beautiful, wonderful, sweet baby in the world and I fall so deeply in love with you every day.

These have been a busy 2 weeks, full of visitors anxious to hold and love you. We aren't quite into our "normal" yet, but we are getting there. It has been so wonderful to have so many people want to shower you with love and affection. You soak up every minute and absolutely love to be held.

You are such a content baby. You eat great, sleep hard, and hardly ever cry. I couldn't be more blessed! You are starting to wake up a little more each day. I love to hold you and talk to you during these times, I feel like we are getting to know each other. You look so intently into my eyes and it absolutely melts my heart. I don't think I would ever put you down if I had my druthers.

Your dad and I love having you in our family. Whenever he is home, he takes over your care. He loves to change your diaper and snuggle with you. You love to sit and listen to him play music or snuggle up under his chin. He kissed you last night and you gave him the biggest smile we have seen yet. I think he almost cried :)

We thank God for entrusting us with your precious life. We pray daily for you and we promise to do our best to show you the love of Christ. We are so blessed to have you here and we will cherish every minute with you. You are such a miracle.