34/52 (Halloween)

A lot sure has changed since last Halloween when CJ was barely a month old. Last Halloween she still wasn't very good at nursing and I just got so much anxiety taking her out anywhere because what if she got hungry and I had to try, and possibly fail, at nursing her in public?? I kind of had an irrational fear of her being hungry and me not being able to feed her, it took a while to get over that. 

This Halloween she was walking all over the place! She loved seeing all of the other kids while trick or treating and saw a few puppies which are her favorite. 

Lexi

35/52

Gosh it's been a long time since I've gotten around to posting a weekly picture. I've never been so busy in my life as I have been recently. I read an article recently that talked about how working parents are stretched too thin, and it really spoke to me. There's just not enough time in the day to be a good employee, wife, mother, and friend. Some days I feel like I'm not even doing one of those well enough.

When I let those thoughts consume me I have to take a step back and remember that this is just a season in life. I won't always feel this way, and some days are easier than others. I'm trying to enjoy this stage because someday soon I'll look back and wish CJ was that little again.

Anyway, hopefully I can get caught up on these weekly pictures because I sure do enjoy looking back on them.

Lexi

34/52

So Charlotte is officially not content being carried around and wriggles out of your arms anytime you try to contain her. Gone are the days of being able to get away with putting a pair of socks on her feet and calling it a day. Jim and I found her a super cute pair of Nike shoes that she loves to run around in. That's her new thing, short little running bursts, and also getting into small spaces and behind furniture. She goes full speed at all times!

Lexi

35/52

Oh my goodness can she make a mess. I always give CJ a bath right after dinner, so I don't worry too much about trying to keep her clean, I think she has fun exploring her food and the dogs sure do love licking up anything that happens to fall. 

Lexi

34/52 CJ is 1!

Wow look at that, a picture from every month of Charlotte's life so far. I can't believe I have a 1 year old. It's amazing how much she's changed. When she was born, she looked like a little sumo baby. Just look at that little cross eyed sumo baby.

Derp 

Look at her now! She is 21 lbs 8 oz, and 29.5 inches tall. She's a pretty good eater, loves meat and fruit. She's not that into cow's milk and would much rather drink water, especially bath water! She loves looking at pictures of other babies and doggies. 

She is understanding more and more of what we say to her and can repeat the first syllable of lots of words. B-words are her favorite (boat, ball, baby). 

The word love doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about my dear baby girl. 

Lexi

33/52

Notice her blurry hand, about the rip off those ears and chew on them. I took this picture when we were shopping for supplies for Charlotte's first birthday and when I saw these mini mouse ears I just had to get them for her. I mean.. come on. 

Lexi

32/52

I think it's safe to say that Charlotte's favorite food is beans & rice. When that is put in front of her she turns into her alter ego, Charlita, and devours every last bite!

Lexi

31/52

It seems like no matter how many fun toys Charlotte has, her favorite is always something that's not intended to be a toy. Her hair brush is her current obsession which makes it impossible to brush her hair anytime she sees it. I don't mind when her chubby little hands reach out for the brush every night though, she's too cute to say no to. 

Lexi

30/52

Just look at how cute this bow is. I just love having a girl to dress up. 

Lexi

29/52

Well I got a little busy and haven't posted a weekly update in a while but I'm about to get caught up because so much has happened! 

When this picture was taken Charlotte was pulling up on everything she could. She likes to go visit Giada when we're playing in her room, and Giada is always sitting on the other side of the baby gate waiting.

Lexi 

28/52

The other weekend we took CJ to The Thinkery, she had so much fun! This was the first time she's been since she started crawling so she was able to explore stuff and interact with other babies too. She is so independent and loves to speed crawl anywhere she likes. 

Lexi

27/52

It's dang near impossible to get a picture of CJ that isn't blurry because she is always moving, bouncing, or trying to dart for anything she's not supposed to have. She also has a special sibling relationship with Giada, they love each other.

I got this super cute cat headband on sale the other day and think it's so cute! I couldn't resist. 

Lexi

26/52

We love taking CJ to see her little baby friend, Jude. She also loves to play with all of his toys, which include a mini ball pit. 

Lexi

25/52

43 weeks

I think this might be the cutest picture ever taken. How is my little baby 10 months old? I'm already starting to plan her 1st birthday which is crazy to me. I look back at pictures of her when she was just born and it feels like yesterday. 

Every day CJ seems to learn something new. She's been starting to really babble a lot and can clearly yell 'mamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa' when she wants me. She is totally over baby food and only wants to eat finger foods now. Some of her favorites are blackberries, blueberries, green beans, asparagus, chicken, fish, and any kind of bean. 

She cracks up at the most random things. Right now she can't contain herself when her dada says 'Chichi get!' or when you say 'bless you' or 'goo goo' to her. 

We went a little overboard and put foam tiles over pretty much every inch of her room since our floors are stained concrete. Now she can go crazy in her room and not worry about falling and hurting herself. Our next big project is going to be anchoring her furniture to the wall because she is now pulling up on everything. 

Lexi

24/52

40 weeks

Cj had her 9 month well check and she is 27 inches long (20th%) and weighs 19lbs 14oz (74th%). I can't believe how big she's getting! She's moved beyond being content with sitting in anyone's lap, she wants to be on the ground crawling around and exploring. We covered her nursery floor in soft foam tiles so she has somewhere at home to go crazy without falling and hurting herself. 

Her new favorite thing is to shake her head no. Jim taught her how to do that, and although it's cute now I'm sure he'll be regretting it in the near future.

Lexi

23/52 4th of July

39 weeks

Charlotte was so festive for her first 4th of July! We spent the day at my brother's house with a few of Charlotte's little baby cousins. Poor Miles, surrounded by women. 

Isla, Ella, Rylee, Miles & CJ

Look at all these cuties! There are pictures of all of my cousins crowded together on couches from when I was little so it's awesome to be able to see the same with the next generation. 

Lexi

22/52 CJ's first vacation

Charlotte went on her first vacation to South Padre with Jim's family in June. Jim's family has a condo there and we stayed with Jim's brother, his wife & daughter in another unit in the same building. We had a ton of fun visiting during the summer time since last time we went in December. 

Here's the boys with their girls, their hair is cracking me up. Charlotte is so entertained by her cousin, she always wants to be doing what she's doing and makes little baby chat to her.

Don't let this picture fool you, she was not a fan of the beach. She didn't like having sand on her feet or hands and didn't like the splashing of the waves. She did really enjoy the pool though, and the water was perfect.

Overall we had a blast spending time with family at the beach. Charlotte didn't sleep very well, in fact she just slept in bed with me because I think she kept on waking up scared in her pack n play. I think by next summer she'll be big enough to enjoy the beach and ocean.

Lexi

21/52

36 weeks

Well this is her newest trick, standing up every chance she gets. She stands up in her crib, in her pack n play, and in the bath tub which drives me crazy. She also tries to stand up on her changing table which makes changing a diaper complicated. 

At this point she still has to hold on to something for balance, but I feel like the next step is walking and it's going to happen pretty soon. We'll be in trouble then. 

Lexi

20/52

35 weeks

Just look at that little diva. One of my favorite things about having a daughter is getting to put a different headband on her for every occasion! She's lucky to have a cousin who is almost exactly 1 year older than her, so we get tons of hand me down headbands. We also get hand me down outfits, socks, shoes, bibs, tights, anything and everything. This is a good thing because lookin' cute isn't cheap!

Lexi

18 & 19/52

Things sure have gotten busy for me now that I'm back to work. They're the good kind of busy though, I really enjoy my job and CJ is really enjoying granny daycare. Granny spoils her with smoothies, shopping and restaurants! Time flies when you're having fun.

33 weeks

These photos were taken over Memorial Day weekend. Charlotte just loves it when she gets to hang out with her cousin, Wren. I can't wait until she is big enough to run around and play with her, I bet they're going to have little tea parties together.

34 weeks

So Jim has a few pictures of his grandpa giving him sips of beer when he was around CJ's age, and he wanted to recreate that. I wouldn't let him actually give her any beer so this was the next best thing. This pic was taken at a cool brewery in Austin, ABGB. CJ let us stay for just long enough to have a drink before she demanded let us know that she was ready to leave.

Lexi

17/52

31 weeks & 2 weeks

Look at how big my baby is! She has changed so much and actually likes bath time now, as opposed to just tolerating it when she was a newborn. She has to have something to play with in the bath tub now, or else she's going to try her best to grab the wash cloth.

She just outgrew her bath seat so we got her a little inflatable mini tub to splash around in. Jim also insisted on getting her 500,000 rubber duckies to play with.

Lexi