Phoenix Trip

Charlie and I took a little vacation to Phoenix to see my sister Patti and her new baby Caroline, who was born Sept 8th 2010. It was such a treat to meet my new niece and spend time with my sister. The trip was WAY too short, but totally worth it. And an added bonus was that Charlie SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT 2 of the 3 nights we were there (about 10:30p to 6:30a). I'm hoping he continues this trend at home.

A few more pics from our stay:

And a video of Charlie swimming:

Charlie rolls over!

Congrats Charlie on hitting your first of many milestones!

Charlie rolled over yesterday around 3:30pm for the 1st time. I was able to get a video of his 2nd roll before I heard Ella waking up from her nap. I ran up to get her and we tried to get him to do it again, but no luck. She had to watch the video to see it. No additional rolls since, but maybe we'll have luck this afternoon.

Back to School!

I am so excited for back to school because it means I get a little break! I love Ella with all my heart but I think BOTH of us were ready for a break from each other. This year Ella is at a new school (Hope Methodist) that is closer to our house and she will be attending two days instead of one. Yay! She will go on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30a-1:30p and then comes home just in time for nap. Her teachers are Miss Ashley and Miss Laura and there are 10 other boys and girls in her class.

Her 1st day was this Tuesday. We had some waterworks at the beginning of the day but all-in-all I think she really had a great day. When I came to pick her up at the end of the day she exclaimed, "Mom, I had FUN!" I think she is really looking forward to her second day (tomorrow) although I expect there will still be a few tears in the morning.

We were lucky to have our good friends Kristine & Natalie Robb visiting on Ella's first day. Thanks to them I was able to drop of Ella without dragging poor Charlie along for the drama in the morning. Speaking of Charlie, he found his hands this week. He's been staring at them, sucking on them, knocking his pacifier out of his mouth with them... all sorts of fun.

Charlie's 2 month doctors appt

Yesterday was Charlie's 2 month doctors appointment and we are happy to report that our big boy is healthy and growing! Charlie is packing on the pounds!

Here are his new stats:

12 lbs 9 oz (75%)

23.5 inches long (75%)

19 inches head (70%)

If you are interested in seeing how much he's grown, here are links to those posts:

Charlie at 2 weeks

Charlie at birth

We only had a couple concerns at his appt today:

1) Charlie prefers to only look his head to one side. We've been working on getting him straightened out with a chiropractor and Dr. Bryan said we should just continue what we are doing because it seems to be getting better.

2) We talked with Dr. Bryan about starting Charlie on formula in the next few weeks and were concerned that since I drink lactose free milk, he might have a problem with a milk based formula. We're going to try it out with the milk based 1st and see how it goes.

Also- we are working on being more diligent with the tummy time...

Funny Ella

My little two year old is hilarious. I always try to remember the funny things that Ella says so I can write them down... but by the time I get around to doing that, it's forgotten.

Here's a few that I can remember:

I was going to the bathroom with the door closed and Ella opens the door. We had workers in the backyard that could possibly get a glimpse of me so I yell at Ella to close the door...

Ella: Why Mom? So the man doesn't see your bottom?

We like to play the name game at our house Ella Ella Bo Bella, Banana Fanna Fo Fella...

and Ella tried it with the name "Chuck" the other day... enough said. (Thank goodness we are NOT going to call Charlie by the name Chuck!)

At breakfast the other day I had a scab on my knuckle that Ella noticed...

Ella: Mom, you got an ouchy?

Me: "Yes, Ella

Ella: From Daddy hitting you?

I'm feeding the baby and Ella was in the office being very quiet, which usually means she's up to no good, so I ask her to come into the family room so I can see her....

Me: Ella, did you put the marker in your mouth?

Ella: No

Welcome Caroline Reese Walker!!!

My niece, Caroline Reese Walker, was born last night September 8th at 7:14pm. She is 6lbs 4.5oz and 20 inches. My sister Patti was such a trooper! After laboring for almost 48 hours, they finally had to take Caroline via c-section. Patti and Caroline are both recovering great!

Here are some pictures of the little peanut.

You can follow my sisters blog at http://chrisandpattiwalkerfam.blogspot.com/.

Charlie's Newborn Photos

My friend from highschool, Lindsay, is a photography genius. She's done all our family photos, so of course we had her take newborn photos of Charlie. Her website is www.lindsaybphoto.com.

Compare these to Ella's newborn photos. Do you think Charlie & Ella look alike???

Waiting for big news...

My little sister is at the hospital in Phoenix RIGHT NOW getting ready to have her 1st baby. I'm dying for baby Caroline to get here, but it probably won't be for a while. She is being induced due to preeclampsia. You can read her blog HERE. I will post the news as soon as I have it!

Please keep them in your prayers!

Charlie is 2 months old

Charlie is 2 months old and our little guy is finally starting to show a bit of his personality. He's been smiling and cooing at us. It's adorable. Charlie is such a good baby. He hardly ever cries unless he's hungry and he seems to just go with the flow most of the time. If only he would sleep thru the night! He has a lot to live up to since his big sis starting sleeping thru the night at 10 weeks. Come on Charlie!!!

Charlie is also really starting to pack on the pounds! Yay! We can't wait to get him weighed at the doctor this Friday. I'll post his stats as soon as we get them.

Charlie's baptism

Charlie was baptized into the Catholic Church on Sunday, August 29th at the Church of the Nativity in Leawood, KS. This is the church where Mark and I were married and also where Ella was baptized so it was very special to us that we were able to have Charlie's baptism there also. Charlie wore the same baptismal gown as Ella wore, a special gown made from my Mother's wedding dress.

Charlie is very lucky to have a great set of Godparents, my brother Tom and my Mom's sister Jenny. Thank you both for agreeing to be Charlie's Godparents. He is lucky to have you!