Showers and Easter and more!!

Long overdue post, so please don't fall asleep from all of the picture updates!! This picture is funny because my mom was trying to take pictures of Charlie and Izzie in these little lamb ears for Easter (this was in March) and as you can tell, they are already not excited about it!

It quickly turned into this....

so no pictures in the lamb ears this year! :) Well, Ava gladly wore them if she could hold Charlie! He was much happier too.

When I was in Marshall, I was so excited to go to my friend Carmen's baby shower! She's due with little Allie in June and I'm so excited for her!! She and Ben are going to be great parents. I love how weddings and babies bring old friends together, it was such a sweet treat to see her.

One of my dearest friends from UT, Springer, was in Dallas one weekend so she finally got to meet little Charlie!! After my 90minute drive to Dallas from Fort Worth (seriously?) in some serious Saturday traffic... we finally made it to lunch. We were determined to get there because we love you Springy!! (Sorry, I refuse to call her Sara)

We met for lunch with two old sweet friends for lunch too! All four of us were pledge sisters from back in the days at UT. :) My friend Emily had her son, Sam, 3 days after Charlie was born so not only was I excited to meet him, but we loved seeing Charlie and Sam interact too!

Taking a picture together wasn't as easy as I thought!

They were pretty intrigued with each other!

The TCU Easter egg hunt is a big deal in FW. We attended this year just to see what we're getting ourselves into these next few years! We enjoyed a picnic with some good friends, but my favorite part was the people watching!!! Some of those parents were so hard core about their kids getting eggs, I'm sure they were planning secret strategies. I wouldn't be surprised if there were bloody noses after that craziness!! Basically, Charlie just sat right here on our picnic blanket and enjoyed the sunshine.

We really enjoyed catching up with Chad, SB and B!! Love y'all!!

It was very windy but so nice to finally start spending some time outside again!!

Ashley and I have been trying to get a picture of these two together for awhile. Charlie and Lilla aren't interested in the picture, but we tried! I think they spotted the EASTER BUNNY!!

We loved seeing so many of our sweet FW friends there. I remember going to the hospital this time last year to meet little Jovie and here she is already one with a little brother on the way! It's amazing how much all of our lives have changed in just the past year or two... babies everywhere! I love this time in our lives!! Thank you Lord for sweet friends and the blessings of our children.

The husbands

We had a fun little lunch one day at Emily's house (babies and moms) so we tried to get some more shots of "Baby Benjamin and Baby Charlie" together. I think it's so cute how John Reid refers to them as "Baby ___" so that's what I call them too when we're together!

It was not so easy getting them to both look at the camera because they were just playing and smiling together....

And feeding each other their hands...

but aren't they just precious??

Esther and Kate, Molly and Hank all came too! (Sorry I didn't get any pics of Livy Anne or B while we were there) I love all of these girls! We met on my day off, which was so refreshing!! I'm always encouraged by their friendships as we go through this time of being new mommies together. Thanks girls, let's do it again soon!

Here is something I haven't done in a LONG time... a bachelorette party! Seriously I think it's been a couple of years. Of course I was super excited about this one for Kendall (best friend from high school) before her big wedding in May in Belize!! :) Doesn't she look great?!?!? I stayed for the opening of gifts and drinks/dinner but when the other girls headed to the bars this momma went home. Yikes, I guess that's a sign that I'm getting OLD!! YAY for Kendall... I can't wait for the wedding!!!!!!!!!

Charlie's first Easter was wonderful but uneventful. Here's our family photo. He is risen.... He is risen INDEED!! I skipped out on the basket this year... figured I have 18+ years to do that and he can't really eat candy. So this year he got some really cute (and tiny) little swim trunks from the Easter Bunny. You'll see him sporting them here pretty soon!!

We were excited that Uncle Justus came to see us for the weekend too!!

I had to take a picture of our AMAZING Easter meal that Carson cooked. You might be asking, what is that scrumptious meal on your plate? That, my friends, is a Kentucky Hot Brown!!!!!!!!!!! Heavenly and you might even gain a few pounds just looking at the picture. It starts with a piece of french toast, thick slices of grilled turkey breast, covered with a creamy white cheese blend then topped with fresh tomatoes and bacon! Yummy baby!! We washed it down with some fresh green beans and tasty wine.... then we had to go on a walk later to burn off some of the serious calories that we ate!!

We have a REALLY cute video of Charlie that I hope to unload soon! If you read this soon don't forget to wish Carson a Happy Birthday tomorrow (April 14th)!!

5 month update

We celebrated Charlie turning 5 months old in Marshall on March 20th! Carson was fishing with my dad in south Louisiana while Gigi and I hung out in Marshall. Obviously his height and weight rough estimates. It was a very low key weekend but we have a cute video of him trying out the Johnny Jump up for the first time (below).

Weight: ~14 pounds (I think he's finally there!!)

Height: ~26 to 26.5in.

He's learning how to sit up, but don't worry he's not that close. He can easily be propped up, but falls over if you're not sitting close to watch him (as you can see in his pic). He had his first "sick" doctors' visit... of course I knew nothing was wrong with him, he didn't have a fever and was still happy, but he had a little dry cough and a clear, runny nose (for the first time). I listened to him at home but took him anyway for a second opinion. Of course his pediatrician said is was probably just a little virus and said not to worry about anything. It was fun seeing all of the staff at his office anyway because they hadn't seen him since his 4 month check-up so they all wanted to hold him. (I had my last 360 hours of clinicals for grad school at the office of Charlie's pediatrician so they all know me too well!!) Charlie had another first this month.... he peed on me!! :) Wendy (my mother-in-law) prewarned me that this was bound to happen and sure enough he did before his bath a few nights ago. We always get undressed and look in the mirror before or after the bath, but as I was walking towards the mirror I felt my side get all warm and wet!!!!!! Oh well... I'm sure there will be many more times of this in my future. :)

Charlie tried the rice cereal (as you can see) but he HATED it! He would gag and shake his head when I tried to feed it to him and then immediately throw it all up when I took him out of his high chair. Then we tried baby oatmeal which he liked a little more but spit that up too. So we're slowly trying veggies and he's tried bananas too. He likes them a little bit and actually swallows some without making a face... but he does wear them all over his face!! :) For now his favorites are still my milk or a bottle!!

Likes: his exersaucer! He will bounce around and play with all of the little things on it and then look at me or Carson and make sure we're still paying attention to him and he smiles really big... then goes back to playing. Still loves his thumb! He loves waking up in the morning! He loves to giggle. He prefers to stand in someone's lap instead of sit. He loves to kick his legs and play in his little bathtub. He loves his Sophie the Giraffe (best teething toy ever)! He also loves going on walks or swinging on the back porch and watching Copper run around like crazy :) Charlie's main form of communication is babbling or his happy squeal. We're trying to get it on video... speaking of, please excuse my annoying voice on the video.

Baton Rouge, Charlie's Dedication, Friend time & Debbie's shower

My dear friend, Debbie, welcomed Tucker Thompson Slay February 4th... so of course we wanted Charlie to meet his little buddy. Well, the boys just wanted to sleep but we took a picture of their first meeting! :) Many more pics of these two boys to come in the future.
Charlie and Izzie just soaked in ALL of the attention when we went to Baton Rouge a couple weekends ago to visit family for my Granny's 82nd birthday. Aren't they just the cutest little cousins?!?! (Charlie is only 7 weeks older than Izzie)
Aunt Lisa with Charlie
Granny with all of her grandchildren (Patrick, Christopher, Josh, Laura, & me) Sad thing is Granny fell this week and broke her hip. She made it through surgery and is doing well! She has like 9 lives!! :)
The Newsom cousins
I forgot to mention on Charlie's 4 month update that he no longer sucks his pacifier. He has now changed to his left thumb! I try to exchang the thumb for the pacifier but he usually pulls the pacifier out and goes for the left thumb. Silly boy!! He's too smart! Oh- and he doesn't use the swaddle anymore either. He is a big boy now sleeping in his sleep sack. Slowly throughout the night he rotates clockwise in the bed so we never know what direction in the bed he is going to be when we go in to pick him up in the morning! Don't worry he's still all smiles and giggles every morning when we go pick him up. It's the best!!
We've had a few playdates with our sweet friends, Hank Hagan and Kate Cowan. I think this picture is so funny of the three little friends. Kate has a boy on each side!
We had our family and the Henrys over for lunch before Charlie's dedication. Blake kept giving Charlie lots of sweet kisses!
Family picture (with Charlie's tongue sticking out) :)
The Henrys and the Andersons: Blake, Nathan, Ashley, me, Carson & Charlie. I'm sure we'll have LOTS of pictures of our families together over the years. I love this picture... except for the fact that this dress makes me look pregnant, oh well!
It was so wonderful to have our families there for Charlie's dedication to the Lord! We committed in front of our family and friends to raise Charlie in a Christian home and to teach him about Jesus' love and grace.
Carson's grandparents came too!
(These next two pics are out of order but I don't feel like adjusting it) Tami, this picture is for you. Here is a before picture of the flowers I bought for Debbie's shower....

And the after shot of the arrangement. I wanted it to be shorter, but after I used all of the flowers, I didn't want to take them all out and re-do it. (It was much prettier in person!)

Charlie fell asleep for part of his dedication, it was so sweet to think about how much has happened in the past year or year and a half. From wanting to have a baby, getting pregnant, praying for our child, finding out that we have a son, everything with my "rough" pregnancy, Charlie being born, becoming parents, and just thinking about this amazing blessing in our lives... the list goes on and on. Carson and I say at least once a day that we feel like we can't love him or kiss him enough! We thank the Lord everyday for our Charlie. He's just wonderful!! I have another picture of all of us praying together that is so sweet too, so maybe I'll upload it later. Charlie's scripture was Isaiah 49:1 from his birth announcement. The version on his announcement was a little different than this...

"Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name."
Great pictures of the Henrys

Charlie and Blake splashing together after a long day of fun

(I can't get this line to not be underlined, I'm still trying to learn a Mac)

My sweet friends, Ashley and Debbie, at Tucker's sip-and-see. It was such a nice shower!

I love you girls so much!!!!!
Ashley & little Lilla

Charlie laughing a couple weeks ago

DYI project

I tried to find a copy of our project online from Southern Living magazine, but no luck, so here's a ghetto picture of the instructions on how to make some cute shelves with only 4 items.
Carson and my dad made these for Charlie's little bookshelf in his room!
I finally hung some pictures in his nursery too!
And here is an updated pic of his nursery too! You've probably already seen his name hanging on the fishing pole, but we added the paddle to his door.

Cute, Cheerful & Clean Charlie!!!!!

4 months old

He's still bright-eyed...

and happy!!

First plane ride at 4 months old to Baton Rouge!! (He looks frightened, but he actually did great. No fussing at all)

Here he is literally drooling all over the paper on the table at his 4 month visit. He would not look up at me for his picture for anything! The paper was much more exciting than his boring ol' mom. Sorry for this much delayed update, but here's what's going on with our little man this month:

Height: 26 inches (78th percentile)

Weight: 13 lbs (10th percentile)

Head circumference: (50th percentile) I forgot what the measurements where but I remembered the percentile!

He likes: his THUMB!! He sometimes takes his pacifier out to put his left thumb in his mouth. It's cute for now but of course mom (me) would prefer for him to suck a pacifier. He has also officially switched over from the swaddle to the sleep sack. It's funny because throughout the night I can see him on his video monitor slowly inch himself clockwise in the bed. When we wake up he's always in a different position! He also loves to talk. He has really found his voice this month and if he's laying down he'll talk to you for a long time.

He dislikes: not much. He's pretty content! :) (lots more pics coming soon)

One year of blogging!

Happy 1st year of blogging birthday to me! Exactly one year ago I started off this blog announcing that we were expecting our first baby and now he's here, 4 months old, and he's the BIGGEST blessing we've ever received!!!!!!! Whew, a lot has happened this past year. Thank you to all the family and friends who have supported and prayed for our little family this past year and we thank you for being a special blessing in our lives.

(Sorry I'm so behind on Charlie's 4 month update! We've been super busy traveling and then we had his parent dedication at our church too with lots of family in town. I hope to get the pics uploaded this week!!)