Thanksgiving with Friends

Last weekend we met up with about two dozen of our college friends, their spouses, fiances, and kiddos to celebrate Thanksgiving. This has become an annual tradition ever since we graduated in 2002. Our friends, Kim and Carl, always graciously host the event at their home. They provide the turkey, and everyone else brings their favorite side dish. It is a true feast! It is also a great excuse to get everyone together at the same time. Nick and I look forward to this special time every year, and we are so happy to be able to share it with Charlie.

Last year Charlie was the first baby out of our group of friends, but this year he had some company. He was joined by his three month old pal, Cayla. It did not surprise us at all when Charlie headed straight for Cayla. He got some more big brother practice and even got to help try to calm her down when she was sad and hold he bottle when she was eating. When he wasn't helping out with Cayla, Charlie was busy Swiffering Kim's floors and raiding her Tupperware cabinet. Charlie also had a great time hanging out with all of the big boys. He took a particular liking to our friends' Dave and Clay. He was not the least bit shy about demanding to be picked up and insisting on their attention. He really was a perfect little guy considering he was in a totally unbabyproofed home and was out past his normal bedtime that night.

Pumpkin Rolling

While I was hosting the shower today, the Shaw boys (Charlie, Daddy, and Grandaddy) hung out at our house. When I got home from the shower, I found the boys rolling our old Halloween pumpkins down the hill in the front yard. Charlie thought that this was just about the greatest game ever invented and was squealing with joy when I got out of the car. As soon as the pumpkin hit the bottom of the hill he went running after it. Poor Grandaddy and Daddy got quite a workout carrying pumpkins up and down the hill for Charlie. I am sure they will all sleep well tonight after all of the pumpkin rolling fun they had this afternoon.

Congratulations Dani!

Today I had the honor of co-hosting a baby shower for my beautiful sister-in-law, Dani, and my future niece, Rylee. This is Dani's first baby, and she is due on December 20th...only five more weeks!

I hosted the shower with Vicki, my other beautiful sister-in-law, and Abby, the girls' best friend. My in-laws' generously lent us their home for the shower, and we had a great time filling it with everything pink and brown (Rylee's nursery colors). I had way too much fun getting the decorations ready for the shower, and I made at least six trips to Joanne's Fabric in the past two weeks for supplies. I LOVE planning a party...especially for someone I love. The day went just as planned, and Dani got a ton of supplies for her new baby girl. Rylee now has more clothes than I do, and she is the proud owner of a pack-n-play, high chair, stroller, car seat, and other various baby gadgets. What a lucky and very loved little girl!

BIG Brother in Training

Think what you will, but Charlie now has a baby doll so that he can practice how to be a good and gentle big brother. The doll is actually one of my old Cabbage Patch dolls from way back when. Grandma had suggested bringing it over a while back, but I was not so sure about giving my son a doll. Actually, I was more concerned about what Nick would think. I ran the idea by Daddy to see what he thought. He wasn't trilled, but he said that my mom could bring it over for him. Later that week, I read an article about how to prepare your toddler for the arrival of a sibling, and it suggested using a baby doll. So, I decided to introduce Charlie to the doll.

Well, let's just say it was love at first sight. I've mentioned before that Charlie adores babies, and it was no different for the doll. Within the first 24 hours, he had to sleep with the doll and even chose to bring it to the store with us instead of Lovey (gasp). I started to get a little worried at that point, but the initial obsession has died down. Now, he will see the baby and give it a quick hug and kiss or take it with him somewhere, but most of the day that baby doll goes untouched.

I have to say it has been very reassuring to watch him with the baby doll. He really does try to be gentle and just wants to love on it. I pray that the same will be true when his little brother arrives. Charlie really is a little lover. He has always enjoyed cuddling more than most of his little buddies, and he has become very generous with his hugs and kisses. I hope that we can make him feel secure enough when the baby is born that he will continue to shower all of us with love.

I snapped this picture the other morning. While I was preparing breakfast, I looked into the family room to see Charlie hugging the baby doll and rubbing its head sweetly. What a wonderful big brother in training!

The Simplest Things

If there is one thing that Charlie has taught me, it is that you can find immense joy in the simplest things in life. Today, Charlie was thrilled to play in a pile of fallen leaves. He jumped, rolled, kicked, carried, and threw those leaves for over 30 minutes. Oh, the simple things!

A Letter to My Son

Dear Charlie,

My sweet, baby boy, you are twenty months old today. For some strange reason that seems very old to Mommy. Maybe it is because in just a matter of months you will be a big brother and will be celebrating your 2nd birthday. I find myself wondering how that is even possible?

It seems like just the other day your Daddy and I were anticipating your arrival and daydreaming about the day that we would finally get to hold you in our arms. And now, you have been with us for twenty wonderful months. The time has flown by, and you have grown and changed so very much. It almost does not seem right to call you a baby, and I am certain that you will seem even less like a baby once your brother is born. But, I have a feeling that no matter how big you get, I will always think of you as a baby. You see, Charlie, it makes no difference whether you are twenty months or twenty years old. When I look at you, I will forever see the tender, round face of the baby boy who made me a mommy.

Even though I wish I could freeze time and keep you right as you are, you will continue to grow. As your mommy, this will make me proud and sad all at the same time. So, keep growing, changing, and learning with each passing day, my little love. But, please know that no matter how old you are or how big you get, I will always be your mommy, and you will always be my baby. I love you!

Love,
Mommy

Progress

Well, we now have two cribs in our house. Crazy! The baby's nursery furniture arrived late last Sunday, and Nick was a good sport and put it all together for me that night. Charlie had a blast helping Daddy. Nick gave him a spare Allen wrench to play with while he worked. Charlie imitated Nick by twisting the Allen wrench into pieces of styrofoam from the packaging. He also loved playing in the big boxes that the furniture came in. He and I were able to sit together in the cool fort that Nick made out of the crib box. We just got the mattress yesterday, so Charlie decided he should test out the bed for his baby bro. ***Excuse the bed head in the picture below. He just woke up from a nap.***



Putting the furniture together brought back so many memories from when we got Charlie's nursery ready. It felt like just yesterday that I held the sides of the crib while Nick worked on getting Charlie's crib together.



I have to say, I love the baby's furniture. It is more ornate than Charlie's, and I really like the sleigh bed look. The wood is lighter than Charlie's, and I like that too. Overall, I am very pleased with it. Now, if I only had the bedding! I hate that I have to wait on the back ordered bedding before I can paint and decorate. I am so ready to see the finished product. The bedding will probably arrive during the second week of December, which means the nursery won't be complete until after the New Year. That is cutting it a little too close for me, but there's not much I can do about that.



The room may not be done, but thanks to Grandma, the baby has his first lovey. We found a different version of the same lovey that Charlie has on-line. Mom brought it over last night. Charlie saw it and looked a little confused. I think I am going to have to keep it out of his sight so that he does not start to get attached.

I am Losing My Mind

When I first got pregnant with Charlie, I kept reading about how pregnant women can become absentminded and forgetful. I did not give it much thought until I found myself entering the pregnancy fog. I started to forget dates, which really drove me crazy because I am the type of person who used to never need a calender. You could tell me a date and time, and it was locked and loaded in my memory. No big deal, right? I just needed to keep my calendar updated.



But, then it started to get bad. I would walk into a room and forget why I had gone in there. I would get completely dressed for work only to realize that I had forgotten to put underwear on, and one day I drove all the way to school in the pitch blackness of winter with no headlights on (in a black car). I looked forward to the day when I would regain my sanity once Charlie was born.



Once Charlie was born, however, something called "Mommy Brain" kicked in. This was caused by a combination of hormones and lack of sleep. It was just as bad (if not worse) than the pregnancy fog. Mommy brain, unlike the pregnancy fog, did seem to get better with time.



Now, I find myself in quite a dilemma. You see, my friends, I have a combination of mommy brain and the pregnancy fog these days. And, I have it BAD. To illustrate my point, I would like to share a few incidents from the last week alone:



-I put a load of laundry in the washer. When it was done, I realized that I had forgotten to put detergent in with the wash. So, I ran the load again. I came back a while later to check on that same load and the detergent bottle caught my eye. Yep, I ran that load twice without detergent either time.



-Charlie and I were getting ready to do the weekly grocery shopping. He was dressed and ready to go, but I needed to find my shoes. I checked every room of the house, every closet, under the beds, and after ten minutes of searching I found the shoes on my feet.



-A teenage clerk at Publix asked me how old Charlie was. To which, I responded, "7 months old." She exclaimed, "Wow, he's REALLY big for his age!" I then said, "No, he's just average." Upon exiting the store, I realized that I had told her how many months pregnant I was instead of Charlie's age. I will be avoiding her check-out line in the future.



-I opened my car one day to find a very strong odor coming from inside. I found a bag of food that I had left on the front seat from the day before. The worst part is that I had forgotten that food the day before that at a friend's home. I even made a special trip back to pick the food up...just to forget it again.



So, please forgive me if I tell you a story more than once or forget a story that you have already told me. Don't hesitate to let me know if I am repeating myself or not making any sense at all. I fully realize that I AM LOSING IT!!!

28 Week Baby Update

I am a little over 28 weeks today. This means many things for a pregnant woman: I am now in the home stretch...my third (and final) trimester; My doctor's appointments will now be every two weeks instead of every four; And, I am about to feel and look like the Goodyear Blimp.


I had my OB appointment earlier in the week, and everything looks great with the baby. He was in no mood to sit still so that the midwife could check his heart rate. After a few minutes of chasing him around, she and I concluded that he was indeed in there and obviously had a heartbeat. I had my glucose screening test (oh, yummy), was checked for anemia, and had a liver function test done. They finally decided that my rash and itchiness might be a sign of a more serious problem, so that was the reason for the liver function test. All of my test results came back normal, which is wonderful! I also got my admissions papers for the hospital at this last visit. That was a little bit of a reality check!


Sorry for the lack of pictures. I am not feeling very photogenic at the moment, but I promise to post them in the next few days.

Trick-or-Treat

Halloween started with a bang. Literally, Charlie banged his mouth on the windowsill. He hit it so hard that his tooth actually chipped the paint and left an impression in the wood. Shortly after that, Nick left to play football with some friends. Daddy leaving coupled with a sore mouth was more than Charlie could handle, and he never really recovered.

We had been invited to a Halloween celebration at 11:00 by our friends, The Jordans, and I decided that we definitely needed to get out of the house. I proceeded to get both of us ready, which took extra long with a super unhappy Charlie in tow. I tried letting him watch his favorite Elmo clip on YouTube, playing some music, and just about every other trick in my mommy bag, but nothing seemed to be working. I thought maybe he was tired, so I put him in his crib to see if a little alone time would help. For ten minutes, he just babbled to himself in his crib as I finished getting ready. Perfect, all he needed was a little time to himself to calm down. I went in to get him from his crib, and he seemed to be happy. He ran out of his room as I collected his diaper and shoes. As I approached our bedroom, I heard Samson yelp followed quickly by Charlie screaming.

I knew immediately that Samson had bitten Charlie before I even got into the bedroom. He has never done it before, but Charlie has been soooo mean to Samson lately. He hits, pinches, pushes, pokes, and sits on Samson all of the time. He knows not to do it, but he continues to abuse the poor dog. Sure enough, Charlie came running towards me, tears in his eyes, holding his little hand out for me to see. Samson was laying on his doggie bed and looked absolutely terrified. Samson hit his breaking point, and I am hoping Charlie has learned not to mess with the poor dog any more. Charlie's pinkie finger had little teeth marks in it, but he was fine. I think it scared him more than anything else. Samson on the other hand may not be okay. He has been yelping when Nick and I touch him and threw up this afternoon. He seems to be better tonight, but I am worried that Charlie sat on him and broke rib or something...lovely. You may think I am a bad mother for being more concerned about the dog than I am about Charlie, but you haven't seen what this kid does to Samson. It was just a matter of time before Samson fought back.

Anyway, after that incident, I did not have the energy to meet up with the Jordans. Instead, Charlie watched a little TV while I did some deep breathing and prayed for a fresh start after nap time.

Nick got home right around the same time that Charlie woke up, and I had high hopes for a better afternoon. We headed over to our friends' house to watch the GA vs. FL game before trick-or-treating. Charlie was in a great mood and even got to play outside in the leaves with some of the boys. My nerves had recovered, and at 6:00 we headed home to get Charlie in his costume and get ready for trick-or treating.

Charlie did not protest putting on his Elmo costume at all, and I was so excited to take him out. I had Nick take out his red wagon so that he wouldn't have to walk. This was a fatal error. Mr. Independent did not want to ride in the wagon. No, he wanted to pull the wagon. That was not easy with cars and kids everywhere, so I decided the wagon had to go. This sent Elmo into a fit. He stood on the sidewalk and screamed at us. Our neighbor came out of his house because he heard him crying from inside. I am not proud of what I did next, but desperate times call for desperate measures, right?. I gave Charlie an M&M to make him happy. Yes, I am the mom who bribes her child with candy. What can I say...it had been a long day. The M&Ms seemed to do the trick and we managed to make it to a few houses without anymore tears.

Once we got home, Charlie seemed to perk up and enjoyed watching the kids come to our house to trick-or-treat. He looked super cute in his Halloween skeleton PJ's from Grandma, and we managed to get some cute pictures of him playing in them before bed time.

Hopefully, next year our Halloween will be a little bit calmer and less eventful! We hope that you and your family had a very Happy Halloween!!!