Bedtime Routine

Recently Dave, Carly, and I found a bedtime routine that we all enjoy. She gets a bath, is dressed in a sleep bag and hat, has her last feeding in the nursery, is put to bed, and read her bedtime prayer as I slowly back out of the room and say "goodnight" before closing the door. Tonight our routine had a few interesting speed bumps. Right before her bath Dave was giving Carly her vitamins. Some how there was a splatter and droplets ended up on the counter, my sweatshirt, and the ceiling. Then while Dave was bathing her she really began to kick in the tub. She has slowly been working up to this and Dave would just laugh, he even tried to teach her to do this a few weeks back while I was bathing her. Tonight she was successful! We had water on the floor from her, Dave stepping back from being splashed and bumping into to me... it was a real hoot to watch. We recovered quickly and the remainder of her bedtime was a success. Meaning there were no tears as I put her down and she seems to be sleeping soundly. Now we can only hope this will last through the night (like usual) and we will sleep later than today's 6am wake up call. :-)

Carly's First Snow

While Carly isn't quite old enough to enjoy the snow that fell yesterday and this morning, she still knew something wasn't quite right outside. We would stand at the front window watching the snow fall and Carly would look outside, then turn her head and look at me and then back to outside. This repeated several times.



It was quite the snowfall for metro Charlotte, starting about 4:30pm on Friday and continuing through the night until the wee hours this morning. We managed to keep roughly 3 inches on our yard, but totals have been as high as 6 around us with 10 as you get closer to the mountains. So after we watched the snow fall under the full moon last night, we warmed up by a fire and had some S'mores.



Then this morning we woke up later then usual, Carly slept for 13 hours, and had a wonderful breakfast of French toast made from homemade sourdough bread and bacon. We needed big breakfast to prepare ourselves for the cold weather outside.

Once we were all full (Carly decided she needed 10oz in the span of 45 minutes after sleeping 13 hours) we ventured outside to experience Carly's first snow.



We went down to watch the older kids play in the snow and sled down the hilly street.



Even though we had Carly pretty well bundled, she wasn't digging the cold so we didn't stay out long.



Once back inside, Carly napped while I shoveled the driveway for the first time in my life. Then I checked on the boat and removed about 6 inches of snow from the cover and then decided I was done for the day. After all that we started another fire and have been lazily sitting and playing by the warm fire for the rest of the day.



Rest of the pictures can be found here

Getting Big

Accomplishments

Carly has managed to accomplish two BIG things today!! She got a late start to her day but finally woke up at 9:30. Once she was up, she hit the ground running (as much as a 3 month old can). During our first round of play time she was busy kicking her kick board and playing with her activity gym. Then she began rocking, and rocking, and rocking. Left to right, left to right. She wasn't quite ready to roll over but she did get up on her left side before falling back onto her back. During tonight's tummy time she continued to work on rolling over. This time she rolled over from her tummy to her back twice. I'm not really sure she meant to roll over, but she did it. Both times she had her left arm extended, her right arm bent under her chest and was really moving her legs. Had she extended her right arm I think she would have scooted instead of rolling.

It's Funny How Things Change

This weekend our family piled into the Trailblazer and headed south to Georgia. David and I have been making this trip south from Cornelius together since August of 2005 (the weekend he proposed). However, this trip was slightly different and a little more crowded. Dave and I each had our bags, Jake was packed in with his container of food, and then there was Carly. She had her bag of clothes, bag of toys, bag of bottles and the pump, her tummy time mat, bouncy chair, and diaper bag.

The reason for our trip was to visit with Dave's family and a handful of his college friends. Gathering with these friends while down in Georgia or at various Clemson sporting events is common, but it wasn't quite the same this time. When these post college gatherings began it typically involved loudness, teasing, alcohol, food, and sports. This weekend's gathering involved all of these things; however, they were not at the center of our attention. The center of our attention were four beautiful babies. There was a 10 month old, 5 month old, 3 month old (Carly), and 1 month old present at our gathering. This definitely added a new dynamic to an old group of friends.

This gathering was also a big deal for Carly! She got to meet her first set of friends. She has been looked at and "petted" by a few of the kids in our neighborhood, but she had never been around children close to her age. It was really cute to watch. Austin and Carly shared the activity gym while Parker toddled around the gym inspecting what they were doing and what Sarah was doing while she napped. Carly was also fascinated with some of Parker's toys, hopefully Cupid or the Easter Bunny were paying attention to her excitement for a special deliver in upcoming months. :-)

As we drove home today in the rain I couldn't help but reflect on this weekend and think, "It's funny how things change!"

Rest of the pictures here!

A NEW toy, or at least NEW to Carly!

This morning I ventured out in the cloudy weather (instead of staying in my nice cozy bed) to meet another LKN mom. On Thursday morning I posted an opinion question about Bumbos on the LKN Mommies Forum and immediately responses began piling in about how great they were or how their children hadn't been able to use a Bumbo because their legs were to pudgy or the kids were to squirmy. But in addition to opinions about these special foam chairs came offers from other moms who were willing to sell me their chair for 1/4 of the retail price. Because my biggest concern was not would Carly use it but rather the asking price for a chair she would only potentially use for a short period, I jumped on these offers. This morning I became the proud owner of a slightly used Bumbo! Best of all Carly has used the chair 3 times today. Once to watch the train, once to play with her toys, and once to read books with me. I absolutely love being able to play with Carly sitting in my lap, but being supported by this chair (especially since she is starting to wiggle a lot more).



Our big morning was followed with a car ride up to the mountains. The weather today was warm and cloudy, so Dave decided a ride to the mountains would be fun. Carly and I both love car rides so he had no objections from us. So after lunch and Carly's nap we piled into the truck and began our trip. While en route Dave remembered that there was a Mellow Mushroom (one of his favorite restaurants that isn't in the Charlotte area) and offered to take me out to dinner (another thing I seldom object to). We shared and enjoyed some warm yummy pretzels and a calzone before Carly woke up for her dinner. Once we were all nice and full we loaded ourselves back into the truck and had a cozy ride home.

She Loves to Sing!!

Carly may not ever be able to carry a tune but she sure does love to sing!!