Charlie's baptism

So we finally did it.  She's just over 2 years old and we finally got her baptised.  The thing is, we don't belong to a church up here.  Yes, we've been living up here for 8 years now and we've gone to church, just never joined.  So when it came time to get Charlie baptised we weren't sure where to get it done.  Wade's mom asked her church (the church Wade went to when he was growing up) if we could have it done there and they turned her down.  TURNED DOWN baptising a child.  Whose own grandmother is a member and whose own father used to be a member.  I'm not so sure God would be ok with that.  I think it is atrocious that a church would turn down baptising a child let alone one where a direct family member is a current member.  So that didn't pan out obviously and we just placed it on the back burner. 

Fast forward a bit and we found out one of our good family friends, Thom, was going to school to get his pastorial license!  What a great sign!  All the waiting was meant to be!  It would mean so much more to have someone we know and love do the baptism.  So I jumped and (no pressure) asked him if he would be willing to baptize Charlie once he got his license.  He said he'd be honored and so we waited.  It just so turned out that the original timing put her 2nd birthday as the opportune time to do it but unfortunately God had other plans and Thom's licensing was on hold for another couple months.  And so it got pushed to October.  And I'm happy to report Charlie is finally baptized!

Last weekend in a sweet ceremony in front of about a dozen family and friends and even more church members we've never met, Charlie was christened!  Thom did a fantastic job!  We'd never have known it was his first ever baptism if he hadn't told us!  I am glad that his first of many to come got to be with our lil sweet pea. 

Charlie did what I knew she would do and screamed bloody murder but thanks to Thom making it special for her she quickly stopped as soon as he had a giant picture of Happy Feet shot up on an overhead screen.  To which she stopped crying, pointed and said "Happy!!!"  To cute.

So THANK YOU Thom!  And Katie and Jill!  And all of our family and friends that made the trip to her baptism.  It meant a lot to us and I know even though Charlie won't remember it she will be able to look back at the pictures and see all who care soooooo much about her.  It was a wonderful experience.

Love,

Kel 

Now that it's almost September...

I guess I should really work on blogging more!  The month of August is gone and I only posted once this month!  I'm not even sure where the time went...

Some quick updates:  I finally got a new job and start Sept. 5th.  I have mixed feelings about this.  I haven't worked full time in over 2 years and I'm really going to miss my time I had to spend just Charlie and me.  But I know we need this job (the extra $ will definitely help) and the job sounds like it's going to be a great fit for me.  I think I'll really like it once I get started but I think I'll miss Charlie too...

We traveled down to Des Moines last weekend to celebrate Brayden's baptism.  We had just seen him 3 weeks prior but I swear he is a whole new baby!  He looked twice the size and is already holding up his weight on his legs (w/ help keeping him stable).  He smiles so much now too and is such a sweet boy.  I love the lil dude.

Not thrilled to be getting her pic taken at the moment.

Charlie is learning so much at such a rapid rate.  I think she learns several new words every day and continues to amaze me when she says something new.  She's conquering fears left and right as well.  Going down a slide alone?  No problem!  Climbing up high on playground equipment?  Done.  Riding her trike super fast down our driveway aimed straight at oncoming traffic?  Check.  Yep, we've definitely got to stay on our toes around this one now!  She's fast and curious.  Two lethal combinations.  But her squeals of happiness while doing these things?  Priceless.  I love this girl so much.

We've been working on potty training, but it's just that: a work in progress.  We can get her to pee in her potty but not poo.  And she'll only go on it if we ask her continuously and bribe her with M&M's.  We'll get there eventually so I'm not putting too much stress on her.

Since I have been a bad blogger I forgot to post her 2 year stats.  She's still a tiny lil peanut weighing in at a massive 21 pounds 9 ounces, which puts her in the 1st percentile again.  She's 33 inches tall which puts her in the 27th percentile for height.  Seems her height has dropped down b/c up until now she'd always been on the taller side for her age.  She must be getting on track to be a shorty like her mama. 

Still loving Minnie!

Other than that nothing too major going on.  Just enjoying our summer weather and being outdoors as much as possible.  Winter will be here before we know it.  I'm dreading it.

I'll try to stay on top of things here in blog land and post more regularly.  I really have no excuses not to.  Just pure laziness on my part!

Xoxo~
Kel

Happy birthday to my 2 favorite people!

A day late a dollar short on this one but happy late birthday to my wonderful hubby!  We celebrated by having the neighbors over for ice cream cake.  I know.  Lame.  But when you turn 33 on a Tuesday it's not that big of a deal.  I know this first hand since I just turned 33 on a Tuesday in May.  Anyway, Happy Birthday Wade!  Love you!

And today is my lil peanut's 2nd birthday!  Happy birthday, Charlie!  I can't believe she's 2 already!  Time flies when you're having fun so we've obviously been having a blast b/c it feels like I just had her yesterday!  Ah!

We celebrated a little bit the other weekend down in Des Moines w/ caterpillar cupcakes and friends.  Then this last weekend she had her big hurrah at home w/ lots of friends and family here to celebrate.  She had a blast and got even more spoiled than she already is.  Although I didn't know that was possible.  Ha!

So happy birthday to the 2 most important people in my life!  I love you both so, so much!

Xoxo~
Kel/Mama

Whoa! Sledding is intense!

Charlie's first time sledding.  She LOVED it.  All she could say over and over was "whoa".  It was so fun taking her out!  I'm so glad the weather was perfect for it!  Warm enough for me to run around w/o gloves and cool enough that the snow stuck around for a bit!  Perfection!

Happy hump day!
Kel

Toddling around!

My pretty peanut

This girl definitely has a personality!  Just in the last month she's changed so much!  I'd been told that around 18 months you'll really start to see their personality and they'll start to talk more and interact more w/ you and others and boy is that the truth.  Charlie will be 18 months old this coming Monday.  She's talking more although just one word, no sentences yet, she's throwing tantrums (yay!) and she's showing me what she likes/dislikes.

The things she is currently loving:
*  Shoes (she takes after Mommy on this one!)

Sparkle shoes!!!

*  Purses/bags
*  Animals and animal sounds
*  Headbands, barrets, bows, etc.

She kept handing me more to put in her hair so who am I to say stop?

*  Her "lovey" (aka blankie)

Lovie snuggle time!

*  Ranch dressing
*  Bath time

*  Lotion (her legs are SO dry this winter and she loves having me slather the lotion all over them!)
*  Cartoons
*  Wrestling/tackling us on the floor (she giggles like crazy!)
*  Books

Learning her shapes!

*  Music and dancing
*  Popcorn
*  Stickers
*  Climbing stairs
*  Elmo

Taking Elmo for a ride

*  Walking!!! 

One sock on, one sock off - the only way to stroll

Yes, that is right!  After being able to walk for the last 5 months but choosing to continue w/ her adorable gorilla butt scoot, she is finally up and walking!  Every now and then she'll sit down to scoot somewhere when she wants to get there fast but the walking is definitely beginning to win in the selected mode of transport!  So exciting!  She's still slow at it b/c I think she is afraid of falling but she's really good at it and hardly ever falters.  I'm sure next thing we know she'll be running around this house!  This spring will be fun outside!

Charlie and I are heading down to Des Moines tomorrow night to visit family and friends.  And the BIG reason we're going is so we can be there first hand when Kara and Todd find out the sex of their baby!  Yay!  We are so lucky to get to join them!  I can't wait to find out.  Friday morning can't come fast enough!  The only thing I'm dreading are the car rides alone w/ Charlie.  I usually sit in the back w/ her and Wade drives when we go long distances but since it will just be me and her she will have to entertain herself!  Let's hope it goes well.  I really don't want to have to drive w/ her screaming at me the entire trip!

Lastly, girl can still make one helluva "mean face".  It cracks me up, she loves to make me laugh, so she does it over and over.  It's a never ending circle of faces and laughter.  She also still makes her "ooooooooh" face constantly.  It cracks me up as well.  She's such a goof.

A Prelude to the Teenage Years

I'm afraid.  I'm very afraid.

Making secret phone calls in her tunnel

Uh oh.  Caught in the act!

Moooooom!  I told you to leave me alone!!!

Keeping that youthful appearance

What? I heard peanut butter does wonders for your hair & skin.

The Emergence of Mean Face

A few weeks ago I taught Charlie how to do "mean" face.  It's hilarious.  If you look at her w/ "mean" face she'll do it back to you and if you say "Charlie, show me your mean face" she'll get all serious, flash her mean face and then immediately start smiling.  I love it.

Happy Veteran's Day!!!!

Kellie

Teething be damned!

Charlie is getting her molars in and has been sleeping like shit lately so I'm exhausted and will be keeping this one short.
The BIG news to update: I'm going to be an Aunt!  My sister, Kara and her hubby, Todd are expecting!  They are due in June and I can't wait!!!  I made t-shirts to help surprise our parents with the news last weekend:

And just for your viewing pleasure, Charlie double fisting it while driving her cart at Best Buy.  She LOVED it!  They need to get more of those things b/c they only had 1 and she would have ridden around in that thing all freaking day!  No baby tantrums while riding around in this Geek Squad car!

Too tired to post on anything else for now.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Tata~
Kel

Charlie Updates!

She loves Kobe.  Unfortunately the feeling is not mutual.

So just a quick little update on our current phase of life around here. 

Charlie is doing great.  She's learning more and more words all the time it seems.   Her current words are mama, dada, doggie, up (or uppy), no and baby.  And she's tried to say bye bye a couple times as well but it sounds like buh-buh.  Which is close enough in my book!

She's still not walking although she can.  I make her do it everyday and she will walk from me to whatever is closest to grab onto (about 6-7 steps) but the second she wants to come back to me she plops down on her butt and scoots over to me.  Either she's just a scaredy cat or she's really freaking lazy.  I'm going to go with scared.  :)  The thing that mystifies me is that when she does walk she is very steady on her feet.  She goes slow so she doesn't fall and doesn't waver at all.  So she can do it perfectly, she just chooses not to.  I guess probably b/c butt scooting is so much faster and efficient!  She is very good at climbing stairs though.  Unfortunately she has not mastered how to get down from the stairs yet so she'll climb all the way to the top and then I try to show her how to scoot down them on her butt and she screams.  Baby steps, baby steps.

She loves to give kisses.  I ask for a kiss and she'll give me one or I'll tell her to give her baby a kiss and she smacks one on her.  Her kisses are great although I'm sure most people probably wouldn't think so considering she comes at you with her mouth wide open and just plants her mouth on you and drools all over.  Very hygienic.  Probably the reason that whenever she seems to get a runny/stuffy nose I come down w/ one as well!

Daddy love. <3

She's been fighting her naps a little bit lately which is kind of annoying b/c then I've got a sleepy, crabby baby until she finally decides to go to sleep.  She must not understand it all.  In order to not be a total crab ass she needs to take a nap but she cries when I lay her down.  Luckily it's not EVERY nap time and it seems that it is worse for her at daycare than at home but still.  And if she doesn't have her little lovey (blankie) forget about it.  She will not sleep at home without it.  It's satin on one side and a really soft fuzzy fabric on the other and she rubs it all over her face as she sucks her thumb.  It's really pretty adorable if you ask me.

Her current favorite toys are cars.  She has a little pink one that she LOVES and pushes it around everywhere.  There is also a horse on wheels that she pushes around too.  Basically anything with wheels she loves.  She scoots around on her butt pushing them in front of her and I'll say "vroom, vroom" and she grins ear to ear.  She carries them around with her all the time.  She also likes her princess mobile too.  She'll walk behind it and ride on it and pushes the horn over and over and over again.  Honka-honka!

Everyone look out! Minor on the road!

She loves Word World and the Cat In The Hat on TV.  She dances to their theme songs and gets totally entranced by them.  I let her watch them b/c they are educational.  Haha, and mama needs some down time too who am I kidding!  Anyway, she's quite the good dancer.  Her key moves are head banging, raising the roof and spirit fingers.  She even threw some fist pumps the other day.  I was impressed.  She must have been paying attention when mommy was watching Jersey Shore the other day.  Ha!  Speaking of mimicking things, she loves it when we stick out our tongues at her and she promptly flings hers out and then pushes it in and out over and over.  Teaching her nothing but good manners in our house!

Totally not copying what I'm doing. Ha!

She's moved on up to a big girl booster chair.  We were sick of the huge high chair taking up so much space in our small kitchen so we decided to make the switch and she loves it.  We can all actually sit down and eat dinner together now!  It's great!  She's still a picky eater and doesn't eat much it seems.  I'm sure when I bring her in for her 15 month appointment she'll still be in the 2nd or 3rd percentile for weight.  I'm not sure what to do about it but I suppose she's healthy, just skinny.

Other than that not too much is new around here.  Wade is currently in Europe for the whole week.  He left Saturday afternoon and doesn't get back until Friday afternoon.  Luckily for me we have awesome neighbors who invited us over for a delicious dinner last night and my mom is coming up Wed afternoon and then Kara, Todd and my dad are coming up Thurs night.  Thank goodness b/c it gets to be a little much w/ just Charlie to hang out with!  (I love her and all but I need some adult conversation too as I can only handle so much mama, dada, uppy, doggie, baby speak.)

Okay, I guess that wasn't that quick but whatever.  I've got time to kill now.

Kel

No! Jack-o-lantern! No!

 

We carved Charlie's 1st Jack-o-lantern on Sunday afternoon.  She thought it was pretty cool until she tried to eat the raw seeds, I scolded her and told her not to and she cried.  I'm such a mean mom.  :)

Regardless, she still thought it was pretty sweet which is evidenced by her numerous "oooooooo" faces.

New this week, she is now saying the word "no".  I knew this was only a matter of time until she started saying this to me.  Luckily as of now she has only said it a handful of times but I know in a short time it will be the only word she will say to me.  This parenting thing is about to get difficult.  Yowzers.

Loves,
Kel

All fixed up!

Sick & sleepy Charlie

Well, after 4 1/2 days of a fever Charlie finally kicked the virus.  It ended up being Roseola which is a very common virus.  The bad thing is that they can't determine it is Roseola until the fever breaks and then the child gets a rash.  So until then you are left wondering (and googling which is NEVER good) what is wrong w/ your poor, sick baby!  Thank God she is healthy now!

Sick baby = cuddle bug

Once we determined she was healthy again we got to drive down to Des Moines to see some family and help surprise our friend Keith for his 30th birthday party.  It was a lot of fun, although the hangover definitely wasn't!  :)  I miss that Bormann clan! 

Happy birthday Keith you old fart! 

Mason REALLY enjoyed the cupcake!

Nice stache Mitch! 

And some more great news...  Charlie took her first unassisted steps!  She was walking between my mom, Kara and myself on the floor and she got pretty good at it!  We let her go and she actually stopped, steadied herself and kept going!  I was one proud mama!!!  So finally at 13 1/2 months she is starting to walk.  Although she definitely still scoots around for the most part b/c she is still to scared to do it w/o having someone to walk to but she's getting there!  I'm guessing that in the next 2 weeks she'll get a lot better at it and we'll have to FULLY babyproof!

And finally, our kitchen is 95% complete.  Wade is finishing putting up the backsplash as I type this and then all that needs to be done is to grout it, paint the walls where the paint came off and put up the baseboards.  I LOVE it.  I'm one lucky lady to have such a handyman hubby!  I'll get a picture up of it once it's done! 

xoxo~
Kellie

(Not) Wordless Wednesday

We had a busy and fun filled long Labor Day weekend.  I'll get a post and some pictures up soon hopefully.  In the meantime, here is a goodie from Charlie's birthday party a month ago. 

She's 13 months old now!  She has 5 teeth (close to 6) and still butt scooting along.  I think she'll be walking in the next month.  She's taken a few steps going from one person to the other without holding onto anything but they are more like lunging/falling steps so I don't want to say that she's taken her first steps hands free just yet but she's getting there!  Her new favorite food?  Fruit Loops.  She inhales them.  :)

Kellie

Also, can someone tell me if there is something wrong w/ my comment verification?  I haven't had a single comment in over a month.  Not that I get a lot or anything but I usually get at least 1 or 2 every other post or something!  I just find it weird.

Time: It is a flyin’!

Since Charlie’s birthday earlier this month she has made huge strides in not only her vocabulary but also her physical feats! She now constantly screams ‘Mama’ at me whether it be she’s happy, sad, pissed off or any other reason. I get the brunt of it, but I’m totally ok with that. She also is starting to try to say other words. She’s saying what I SWEAR is “doggie” but I really can’t be sure so whenever she says it I search for one of her million doggie toys and pick it up and say “Yes! Doggie! Ruff, ruff!” So I’m sure I sound like an idiot.

Also, she’s finally standing on her own! She’s gotten dramatically braver just in the last week and has finally cut the strings attached to our hands/couch/ottoman/toy that she happens to be closest to and LET GO! The first few times she would stand on her own a few seconds, get a HUGE grin on her face and dive bomb into me. But now, she let’s go, grins from ear to ear and continues to stand there all on her own! I’m so proud that I almost cry, start clapping and congratulate her and she gets excited and falls to her bum. But seriously, I KNOW she is close to walking now. She’s getting that bravery thing down pat and she’ll soon be all over the place! My baby is turning into a little girl right before my eyes.

I can honestly say that the past month has been the most fun with her. She is turning into a little person with ideas and desires and she is starting to voice them. And she is so entertaining! I could sit and watch her play all day (and sometimes I do b/c that laundry can wait!).

She’s starting to eat better (some days) and I’m hoping this will help her gain some needed weight. I’ve been spreading butter on a waffle for her for breakfast almost every morning and I’ve tried to get her to drink Pedialite but she’s not interested in it. So what else can I do? She eats what she wants, when she wants. I’m hoping the additional teeth she’s getting now will help b/c she eats SO DAMN SLOW I want to poke my eyes out w/ her fork. Seriously a meal w/ her easily lasts an hour.



Pizza Hut breadsticks & marinara = a HIT!



She now has 5 teeth (I think). It’s hard to get a look in that little mouth of hers! But I think her other top middle one finally broke through just last night. Her silly, crooked grin will soon be evened out!



Notice lopsided, goofy grin.  :)



Last Friday we took Charlie to the fair w/ our neighbor, Beth and her boys, Hunter and Mason. It was Charlie’s first time and although she was in her stroller for most of it I think she had a good time. She loves to people watch and what better place to do that than the state fair??? Hunter and Mason got to go on a handful of kiddie rides and stop in the butterfly exhibit but I think their highlight of the trip was the cotton candy and the chrysalis’ they got to buy and bring home! The first butterfly emerged Sunday and they were ecstatic and promptly named it Cedric Jack. What a name for a butterfly! That butterfly is going places I tell ya!



The boys & their cotton candy (and a Charlie sighting in the background)


In other household news, we’ve finally gotten our cabinets installed and the countertop fella is coming today to do final measurements for the granite we are ordering. Then it will be 2 weeks for delivery and installation. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that our project will be mosty complete as of September 12th (besides the backsplash and paint)! I’ll be sure to post a final picture once it is done but here is how it looks as of now.


I'm LOVING it!


Other than that we’ve just been living the life w/ the great MN summer weather! I am so sad to report that our crabapple tree’s leaves have started the annual change already. I guess it’s that time of year. We’ve got to get out and enjoy the last few weeks of summer b/c once it starts to get cold it gets cold FAST here and the damn winter seems to last forever. I love Autumn, I just HATE what comes after it.


Xoxo~
Kellie