Our 9th Anniversary

Believe it or not David and I do still go out on our own every once in a while!  Thankfully we got that opportunity on our 9th anniversary thanks to our dear friend Chandra.  She kept the kiddos and we hit the town!  David got us reservations at the Summit Club (which is on the top two floors of the tallest building downtown).  Dinner was amazing and they even brought us dessert with a Happy Anniversary message.  We got to eat at the same time, have a conversation, and just enjoy each other's company!  

It's hard to believe 9 years have already gone by.  Through it all we have gone through life as a team and will continue to forge our way through.  Thank you Lord for a Godly husband that loves his family, is driven in his career, and is a total goofball.  I look forward to our next 90 years!!!

Charlotte Anne's First Day of School

Charlotte Anne kicked off her first day of school the week after the 4th of July.  The top picture below is when I dropped her off in the morning and the bottom is when I picked her up in the afternoon.  You can see SK was super proud to take her sister, but CA was not quite sure about everything.  When I got her that afternoon she had a great day and was all smiles.  This little lady is looking to be a lot like her sister - she loves school.  I think it's being around all the people and activity maybe.  I just know she was pretty fussy at home and then as school she's happy as a clam!  I guess mommy isn't nearly as interesting.  :)  We are so incredibly blessed to have wonderful people teaching our kids while we go to work.  Chase Learning Center is overflowing with love for these kiddos and we know our girls are very well taken care of.  That makes all the difference in the world during the day knowing I have zero worries for my babies!

Charlotte Anne's Baby Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

This is the super cute book I just ordered for Charlotte Anne's baby book from Shutterfly.com (50% off AND free shipping!).  This is our little angel from ultrasound to the first day of school.  She is such a blessing to our family and we are so unbelievably thankful that God chose us to be her parents.  I can't wait to watch her grow and learn! 

New Piano

We are the proud new owners of a player piano!  This was David's grandfather's piano that I can remember from the first time I went over to visit when David and I started dating in 1995.  David's step-grandmother is having to move to an assisted living facility and when his parents were cleaning out her house they asked if we wanted the piano.  I wasn't sure where it would fit but I said YES.  So, we did some furniture suffling and made room for this beautiful piano.  It is outfitted with a program so that it can play itself (which is perfect since neither David nor I play) and his grandfather had tons of discs for it.  I turned on a swing disc for SK and she jammed out to it!  

For all my Office fans - be prepared for a "Classy Christmas" party coming to the Coram home in December 2012! :)  The piano will be a hoppin.

Visit Gram before Going back to Work

With my maternity leave quickly coming to a close, I took the day after the 4th to go see my family in Anniston.  Sarah Katherine was so excited that all day on the 4th she told everyone she was going to see her Grammy the next day!  We all got up rolled out to Anniston with no big events - whew.  We started at my Aunt Kathy's house where Charlotte Anne got her lunch and then we left to go get the big girls some lunch at a cute Tuscan place.  After that we picked up some pictures I sent to be printed out for my family and went to see Gram at her place.  We got to meet some of her friends there at her new spot and had a great visit!  We are so blessed to be able to have our kids know their great-grandmother!

4th of July

This has to be one of my very favorite 4th of July's in a long time!  We had so much fun as a family and my girls were super cute through it all.  

First, the Sunday before the 4th the little ladies work dresses that my mom had made for them.  They were so adorable that I'm going to have "real" pictures made with them in them in a few weeks.  

On the actual 4th, we got up early and got our gear ready for a parade!  Our friends invited us to a parade their neighborhood does every year where you decorate a stroller, wagon, or bicycle and ride around a loop and then back to the clubhouse for prizes, snow cones, and lunch.  Mommy about died pushing the giant stroller up the hills, but we made it work.  It was a great time!!!

We won 2nd place in our division!!!  SK was excited about the Skittles part of the prize, mommy was excited about the Coldstone Creamery gift card!  I wonder how many points are in a waffle bowl?!?!

After the festivities we went back to our friend's house to play a bit.  The girls were being so cute!  Charlotte Anne was giving the biggest, cutest smiles but I did catch at least one of them.  :)

SK and her buddy Emma holding "Baby Charlotte".  Don't they all look 4th of July fabulous?!

David had to work in the morning, but he got off early so we could grill with some other friends that afternoon.  The kiddos played in the yard with water toys until time to chow down on hot dogs and chicken and watermelon.  David got some sparklers for the kids to use, but apparently they were a dud because sparkles when everywhere and were super scary!  Thankfully no one got hurt, and we decided to just light the sparklers at a safe distance away and the kids just watched them burn.  Maybe next year!  (I of course forgot to take pic's - stink!)  

To close out the big day, we got everyone basically clean and then snuggled in front of the TV to watch the fireworks.  SK was completely intrigued by the fireworks on TV, though I'm not sure she'd love them that much in person.  We'll have to check that out next year.

The Happenings of Charlotte Anne

Charlotte Anne and I have been getting our quality time in, and it has been great getting to know this new little person!  Everyone says "every child is different" and until you have more than one in the house, you just don't know how true that is.  My girls look like they could be the same person (SK looked exactly like CA at the same age), but their quirks are very different.  

Also, our 5 week "preemie" has grown up and is now squarely on her growth chart right on track.  We went for her 2 month appointment and she was 23" and 9lbs 7oz (75% on height and 25% on weight - just like her sister).  We are so blessed that our baby girl is doing so well!

So far, in my 11 weeks of getting to know her, here is what I have figured out about our newest little missy...

She is a MAJOR mommy's girl!  She has been turning her head when she hears my voice since about 3 weeks old.  There are times when she wants mommy and no one else will do.  At times this is tough for me, but I know the first time she reaches for someone other than me I will melt down.

She is totally intrigued by her big sister.  Charlotte Anne watches Sarah Katherine all the time, I think she is studying her.  She even saved her first smile just for SK when she thought mommy wasn't looking.

She has a tough time with tummy troubles.  We are weaving our way through the new world of gas drops, gripe water, sensitive formula, bicycle legs, and giant man burps.  SK would spit up a good bit when she was little, but that was easy enough to just clean up and move on.  Our poor Charlotte Anne gets really painful gas bubbles and needs extra help to work them out.  The doctor said not to worry and as she eats "real" food it should work itself out.  That is easy to say, but when you are watching your kiddo in pain and you have done all you can think of and she's still crying, not worrying isn't much of an option.  I can already tell a large improvement over the last few weeks, so hopefully when she starts cereal (in about 6 weeks) she will have all this behind her.

She is going to fuss more over food than over sleep.  SK was like Jekyl and Hyde over food.   Tired baby = crazy sad fussy baby.  Well, Charlotte Anne's push point is going to be food.  Girlfriend knows when that 3.5 - 4 hour mark is and will let you know it!  That is easy enough to take care of, I'll run a mini grocery store out of my bag!

She loves being outside and around people.  (This one was a specific prayer request God answered.)  This little girl thoroughly enjoys people (well, people watching right now) and warm breezes.  Maybe she will be our outdoorsy girl.  She's never as calm as when we are outside.  Also a good trick for when those bad bubbles come up.

She is an angel in public.  Just like her sister on this one - in public everyone says she is a complete perfect child!  No one believes girlie can crank it up sometimes.  I'm not complaining, if she's going to fuss I would rather it be at home though.

She is strong.  This "little" girl is already rolling over.  She flipped from tummy to back twice when she was 5 weeks old, and has done it with almost every tummy time since!  Granted she was not happy to be on her tummy at the time and it was a by-product of the huffiness, but it totally counts.  

I am so excited to see what the next few months have in store when she will really start showing her personality.  She is a tiny little miracle and we are so unbelievably blessed to be able to raise this baby girl!  

Here are some new pic's of her.  Now that she is starting to smile on a regular basis, we need to get in a studio soon!

She can't find it every time, but prissy found her thumb the other day.  If she's like her mom and sister, this is a the start of serious relationship!

Charlotte Anne LOVES the fan!  I even found her "talking" to it the other day.  :)

Laughing with daddy.  Isn't that little dimple so precious?! 

Sister playing.  SK has a blast talking to her sister.  She is so loving and gentle with her, it truly melts my heart to see them together.

Beach Trip!!!

We decided a trip to the beach was much needed after all the hecticness over the past few months!  We loaded up and went with some friends down to Panama City Beach.  David found a great deal on a condo and I discovered PCB is way classier than it was back in the day. :)  That is a great thing, especially since we are now bringing kiddo's with us.  It was a relaxing few days of listening to waves crash, hanging in the condo, watching the kids play, and just enjoying the beach and the company.  We did hit up a few hot spots while we were there (well, as hot as it gets for running with a 3 year old!).  

On our way back from dinner at Captain Anderson's, we found the cutest mini amusement part for little kids.  SK had a BLAST riding all the rides and topping off her evening with a snow cone.    

The next day we went to a mini-water park that is in the city park (AKA - not expensive!).  The big kids loved playing in the shallow water, slides, squirt guns, etc!  The kiddos played for like 3 hours (which for a 2 and 3 year old - you know it's got to be awesome).

Charlotte Anne has discovered the outdoors from the coziness of her bouncy seat and she LOVES it!  She has some gas / colic issues, but whenever we were outside and the warm breeze was blowing - this girl was a happy camper.  While SK splashed and was out in the sun, CA and I chilled in the shade.

After 3 fun days we had to head back.  Here is a pic of SK and Jackson at lunch on the way home.  She thinks J-man is her "baby" to take care of, but she will learn soon he is going to be like 2 feet taller than her and not exactly a baby!

Father's Day 2012

We had a wonderful, memorable Father's day this year!  

First, this is David's first Father's day with not one, but TWO crazy girls.  David is such a great father, and all his girls are head over heels for him (even mom)!  

An extra special event was David got to baptize a little boy from the cub scout pack he worked with.  This little man was asking his mom some tough questions, so she asked if David would mind talking to him.  We invited them over for dinner, and before dessert this fella prayed to receive Christ!!!  Since David is ordained in our church as a deacon, he was allowed to have the honors of baptizing him.  So, I got Charlotte Anne ready to make her church debut and we were there to watch (and maybe cry a little!).  The pictures are pitiful - since it was our first Sunday getting everyone ready, I didn't quite have it all together.  My phone doesn't zoom very well.