When I went in to get Charlotte from her room after her morning nap, I was so surprised to see her standing up in her crib! She was so proud of herself and had the biggest grin on her face. Before her next nap, I had Jared lower the mattress so we wouldn't have to worry about our little monkey girl doing any special-op maneuvers that Uncle Gavin taught her.
I saw this shirt in Walgreen's and just had to get it for her :) 'Cause that's how she rolls, yo!
Charlotte is so close to crawling! She's been "scooting" for a while now, pushing herself along with her toes, but now she is finally tucking her knees underneath her and rocking back and forth. I think in the next few days she'll have figured it out and will be all over the place. Jared thinks that she would have crawled earlier, but she's too lazy and would rather fuss for someone to get the toy for her rather than getting it herself.
She's getting more and more fun to watch since she's playing with her toys more and figuring out more things she can do with them. She's not just smacking and chewing on the dancing, singing bear, now she's turning him upside down and putting her other toys on top of him. She's showing more and more personality each day, which makes Jared and I realize just how full our hands are going to be!
No news to share, so here are some of our favorite Mitch Hedberg quotes that are good for a laugh or two :)
An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You should never see an Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience.
Dogs are forever in the push up postion.
I can whistle with my fingers, especially if I have a whistle.
I had a stick of CareFree gum, but it didn't work. I felt pretty good while I was blowing that bubble, but as soon as the gum lost its flavor, I was back to pondering my mortality.
I know a lot about cars, man. I can look at any car's headlights and tell you exactly which way it's coming.
I like Kit-Kat, unless I'm with four or more people.
I once saw a forklift lift a crate of forks. And it was way to literal for me.
I recently took up ice sculpting. Last night I made an ice cube.
I think foosball is a combination of soccer and shish kabobs.
I used to be a hot-tar roofer. Yeah, I remember that... day.
I want to get a vending machine, with fun sized candy bars, and the glass in front is a magnifying glass. You'll be mad, but it will be too late.
I was at this casino minding my own business, and this guy came up to me and said, "You're gonna have to move, you're blocking a fire exit." As though if there was a fire, I wasn't gonna run. If you're flammible and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit.
I wish I could play little league now. I'd be way better than before.
I would imagine if you could understand Morse Code, a tap dancer would drive you crazy.
I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.
I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later.
If I had nine of my fingers missing I wouldn't type any slower.
Is a hippopotamus a hippopotamus, or just a really cool Opotamus?
My belt holds my pants up, but the belt loops hold my belt up. I don't really know what's happening down there. Who is the real hero?
My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them.
Rice is great if you're really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something.
This shirt is dry clean only. Which means... it's dirty.
Wearing a turtleneck is like being strangled by a really weak guy, all day. Wearing a backpack and a turtleneck is like a weak midget trying to bring you down.
When someone hands you a flyer, it's like they're saying here you throw this away.
You know when they have a fishing show on TV? They catch the fish and then let it go. They don't want to eat the fish, they just want to make it late for something.
I hate turkeys. If you stand in the meat section at the grocery store long enough, you start to get mad a turkeys. There's turkey ham, turkey bologna, turkey pastromi,.Some one needs to tell the turkey, man, just be yourself.
I want to be a race car passenger: just a guy who bugs the driver. Say man, can I turn on the radio? You should slow down. Why do we gotta keep going in circles? Can I put my feet out the window? Man, you really like Tide...
I bought a doughnut and they gave me a receipt for the doughnut... I don't need a receipt for the doughnut. I give you money and you give me the doughnut, end of transaction. We don't need to bring ink and paper into this. I can't imagine a scenario that I would have to prove that I bought a doughnut. To some skeptical friend, 'Don't even act like I didn't get that doughnut, I've got the documentation right here... It's in my file at home. ...Under "D" for doughnut'.
I know it's a day late- don't worry, I didn't forget about it yesterday. I just forgot to blog about it!
Charlotte and I woke up Jared yesterday morning with the sweet gifts and card she picked out. She got him a book called "Daddy's Little Girl" that has cute stories of the sweet bonds between fathers and daughters. But the real winner was the Gator memorybook that he got! Jared described it as a "pop-up book for adults". It has the history of the football team and has lots of little inserts and things like ticket and poster replicas from throughout the years. Jared really seemed to like it and I think it will be fun to flip through during the commercials of the games this fall.
Jared is such a wonderful father and Charlotte just loves him to death. She loves their playtime when he gets home from work and is so smiley around him. I am so grateful for him and all he does for our family.
The first pictures of Jared with Charlotte - such a proud Daddy!
Here's the picture Chad & Amber sent to us yesterday when we were on our way home. Uncle Chad was amusing Charlotte by putting a pair of pants on her head. She thought it was hilarious!
Jared and I had our first real date since the day before Charlotte was born! I can't believe it's been this long (almost 7 months!), but we finally got out and were reminded that we're not just "Mommy" and "Daddy", but also "wife" and "husband".
Chad and Amber came up and watched Charlotte for us and we went to see Indiana Jones and then went for a very nice dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. The movie was good, dinner was great, but the best part was just having some alone time out with each other. We were really hoping that Charlotte would behave herself so that we would still have Uncle Chad and Aunt Amber as babysitters in the future, and they said that she was very entertaining and didn't get very fussy at all. Yea!!! They sent a cute picture to us when we were on our way home of her with a pair of pants on her head :) I'll have to figure out how to get it uploaded to the computer so I can share that with you. Charlotte peed on Amber (three times!) while she was changing her diaper, but I guess that's just her "initiation" into aunt-hood!
Thank you, Chad and Amber, for giving of your time so we could have a nice evening out! We love you guys!
I saw this cute float at Wal-Mart for $10 and had to get it! Our neighborhood pool is about a two-minute walk from our house and I think we'll be making more and more trips there since it is getting sooo hot! The water has warmed up since the last time we went so that it actually feels good to get in. She wasn't quite sure what to think of it at first, but she had a great time splashing around!
Charlotte playing in the float before we left
Daddy helping her into the pool
Splashing around in the pool
From earlier in the day - she woke up with some serious bedhead!
I'm afraid that Charlotte is going to be a typical first-born child. She seems to already have a strong will and for Jared and I who are both second-born's, we're at a bit of a loss as to where all this sassiness comes from! We both firmly believe in spanking, though we're struggling with when to begin that form of punishment. Dr. Dobson, the parenting and discipline guru, says sometime between 15 to 18 months is an acceptable time to administer the first spanking. So we had a countdown to the day Charlotte turns 15 months old :)
After talking to some of the mothers in our Home Bible Study, including our pastor's wife, who has four very respectful and well-mannered boys, we are praying about whether or not a smack to the hand would be appropriate for her at this age. She's not yet crawling (though she's getting close as she tries to push herself along with her feet instead of pushing herself up to her knees), so she's not getting into things she shouldn't and disobeying in that manner. It's just a fussiness and brattiness when she's not being held when she wants to be (which is way more than I can hold her and still get stuff done around the house!). And many of the times, she doesn't just want you to hold her, she wants you to hold her while you're standing up. Frustrating!
We're struggling with, at this point, whether she can understand what the little slaps to the hand are for. Is she going to see it as Mommy and Daddy just hitting her, or as Mommy and Daddy not approving of the way she was acting?
This morning as I was reading in Scripture, I came across these verses that comforted me.
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
--Proverbs 2:1-6
For a while we have been praying for wisdom in how to discipline her and this morning I was reassured that God would guide us and give us the wisdom we are seeking.
What a weekend! We managed to see all our parents and even some of the great-grandparents on Saturday. Mom and Jerry stopped by for a few minutes to get some Charlotte-lovin' in before they did some playing in Jacksonville. Then we headed down to Melrose to Mom & Dad Rollins' (a.k.a. Toto & Pop's) house. Jared's grandpa, PaPaw, and his sweet girlfriend, Ms. Lillian, were there too so they were able to see Charlotte too. We had lunch with them and watched some videos of Charlotte and Gavin's graduation from bootcamp before heading off to Hampton. There, we celebrated my grandpa's (Pop's) 87th birthday! It was the first time a lot of the relatives met Charlotte and she was spoiled rotten and held the whole time. She only had one good nap that morning so I was nervous she would be really cranky, but she didn't get fussy until the end of the evening (other than the van rides, of course, since she is not a fan of being in her car seat), which was our cue to head back home.
Sneaking a quick nap in with Toto
Left to Right, Mel (at least Mel's forehead... she's hiding:), Ms. Lillian, Toto, PaPaw and Charlotte, Pop, me, and Jared
Four generations: Grandma & Pop, Papa, Mommy and Charlotte
Charlotte playing with her Papa
Sunday was another busy day. I'm afraid that Charlotte is going to be the baby who will cause the nursery workers to run and hide. The Sunday School hour is right in the middle of her usual naptime so the past few times she's been in there she's been especially cranky. They try putting her in one of the cribs, but I think there's just too much going on and too much too look at with all the other babies playing for her to be able to go to sleep. Any suggestions?
Once we got home we went into cleaning mode to get everything ready for hosting the Home Bible Study. Instead of an evening service, our church splits into groups and within the groups, different people will host the Bible Study. Discussion questions are included in the church bulletin and we go over those. It's nice to be able to get different insights and to be able to ask questions about things we might need some clarification on. Afterwards, we eat! Whoever hosts makes the main dish (I made BBQ meatloaf- yummy!), and everyone else signs up to bring a side, dessert, or drink. We've really enjoyed that time to get to know some people in the church a little better. But we're taking a break from the Home Bible Studies for the summer, so last night was the last time we'll meet until August :( Hosting the studies has made Jared and I even happier and more grateful for our home because our living room is big enough that it can easily fit 25 people. Squeezing into the kitchen to get the food-- that's another story :)
Charlotte playing on Monday morning
At the baby shower that my church threw for me, I was slightly overwhelmed. First of all, I was surprised at how many people came. Jared and I had been members for only a couple months and I did not know too many people outside of our Home Bible Study group, so I figured it would be just a few ladies who happened to have that weekday night free. Little did I know, the "Ladies of Grace" (Grace Community Church, Ladies of Grace... get it? :) take baby showers very seriously! So many women showed up, half of whom I had not even met before. And they not only gave of their time by being there to show their excitement and encouragement for our growing family, they showered us with so many gifts. It just blew me away. Some of the gifts were especially... well, special! We received several handmade items that were so beautiful. Two adorable hooded bath towels (one embroidered with Charlotte's name), two beautiful receiving blankets, and one of the blankets was tucked inside a matching tote with two matching burp cloths. So sweet!
Their sewing talents surpass mine by far, but I decided to attempt to make a blanket for a baby gift (copying one of the designs for one of the blankets given to Charlotte). The wife of one of Jared's co-workers is expecting a little girl sometime in the next couple weeks (I can't remember her exact due date, but it's soon!). They are doing the nursery in a neutral "Jungle Babies" theme, so when I saw the monkey print, it seemed too perfect. As I was working on it, I wasn't even sure if I would end up giving it to her because I was scared it would turn out looking like a 5 year old put it together, but I'm pretty pleased with how it ended up. I had some extra fabric left, so I made two matching burp cloths. It'll be so exciting to meet their little one and for Charlotte to have another little playmate!
And thank you, Jared, for being so patient while the dining room table was converted to sewing central for the past two weeks!
My best friend, Shannon, called me yesterday evening to tell me that she and her boyfriend of 3 years are getting married! Thad finally popped the question, in the sweetest way: T ♥ S carved into a tree on his farm, and he got down on his knee right there to ask her. I'm so excited for them! They are such a sweet couple and I know they will be so happy together. Now for the fun part: helping her plan the wedding, and planning the bachelorette party!
Shannon and I on my wedding day. Now it's her turn to wear white!
We finally had a family portrait done! We went to Sears tonight and they got a couple really cute shots of the family, and of course some of just Charlotte.
When I was a baby, my Grandpa (my Mom's dad, who passed away last year) bought me this cute dress that I had some pictures taken in. It's a little faded and the shirt is a little yellowed, but I had to get some pictures of Charlotte in it too. She's my little "mini-me"!
Yesterday we got to see Arin, Anson, and Ella for the first time since Christmas! It was so fun to see Charlotte and Ella interacting. They sat on the floor trying to grab at and slap each other, all in good baby fun of course :) Anson is just a bundle of energy and all-boy. Ella is so sweet-natured and is quite the contortionist- we were amazed at how limber and "wiggly" she is! Arin took more pictures than I did, but here's a cute one of the grandkids with Toto & Pop.
Ella gave Charlotte some crawling lessons and I think they're going to pay off - Charlotte scoots around a little better every day. She still looks like she's trying to "swim" across the carpet and pushes herself forward with her toes. But she's not far away from crawling all over the place!
Charlotte fell asleep on the way home, in the midst of her efforts to get her entire fist into her mouth.
These pictures are from last week, but I wanted to be sure to share them. I bought Charlotte an exersaucer, which she has really enjoyed. This is one of her favorite ways to play with it...
