Growing, Growing Baby

Let's talk about this itty bitty girl of mine. 

Well, first of all, she's not really that itty bitty anymore. In fact, she's catching up to her big sister rather quickly. And holy cow, she's 4. months. old. 

That picture captures Millie's personality pretty darn well. Now that we've passed the colic phase (thank you, Jesus!), she's pretty happy most of the time. She's always moving, and chewing on her fingers.

She spends a lot of time in the bouncy seat...which is pretty much her favorite place. She's starting grasping toys, and bringing them to her mouth. She can roll from tummy to back, and from back to her side. So close to doing both! She's getting very vocal, which is no surprise. ;-) And she's starting blowing raspberries lately which is pretty much the cutest thing ever.

I mean, seriously. Look at that face!

Her sleeping is much better than it used to be, and I hope we're beginning to have some sort of schedule! I know a lot of people buck against having a schedule for their babies, but it's really harder for me to not have one. And I'm not super strict about it. I just need that routine! And since Charlotte does so well with it, I'm totally cool with doing it with Millie too. 

She's a nursing pro, and would probably nurse all day if her tummy would allow it, lol! She loves to suck on her fingers, too. She's not quite as good at getting her thumb in her mouth... I'm starting to wonder if she's going to be a finger sucker instead of a thumb sucker. Only time will tell!

What else can I say about this girl? She's sweet, happy, cuddly, and slightly noisy. ;-) Looking very much like a chunky version of her sister, and a brunette version of her mama. We love this smiley girl so stinking much! {And so do the ladies in the church nursery, LOL! She's quite the little charmer. :)}

TWO

Exactly a month ago, my little bean turned TWO. I don't even know how this is possible. It seems her second year went by even faster than the first. *sigh*

Left: First birthday; Right: Second birthday. 

So much changes in a year....

We first celebrated her birthday in NC, a couple weeks before her actual birthday. All of our NC family was there, and Grammy (her great-grandmother) made her birthday cake. Even though she wasn't feeling well that day (she had a yucky cold, and also busted her lip right before the party), she had a great time. 

The next weekend, my parents came to visit and we celebrated her birthday again. Needless to say there was no shortage of celebrating this year!!

My mom and dad. Known to Charlotte as Mimi and Pop/Papa.

The girl knows exactly what to do with birthday candles. LOL

Charlotte and Daddy.

Toys!

Mommy, Daddy, and the birthday girl. 

Since we did so much before her birthday, we had a pretty low-key day on her actual birthday. Don't worry, we still had cake. ;-)

Showing me "two." Haha.

Some facts about the birthday girl:

• She's still earning her nickname, Bean. At her 2 year checkup, she weighed a whopping 19.6 pounds. No matter how much she eats, she's still teeny! (And I'm thankful we finally found a pediatrician who doesn't freak out over her size. Only took 2 years. *sigh*)
• She has a huge vocabulary...and uses it constantly. LOL! She said her first 3+ word sentence in February, and now surprises us with all the things she says. 
• Her favorite show is "Jake." AKA Jake and the Neverland Pirates. And we watch it all. the. time. (Read: TV is how you survive 2 kids under 2/3.)
• She recognizes a bunch of letters, and can sing most of the ABCs. She can count to 10, but only when she wants to. :P
• She loves playing outside on her little jungle gym my parents bought for her last fall. 
• She loves dancing to music, and frequently asks me to sing either the ABCs or "Spider" (Itsy Bitsy Spider) so she can dance.
• She loves Jasper...much to his dismay. 
• She LOVES shoes, which makes me a proud mama. Haha
• She loves to give us all hugs and kisses. She is the best little cuddler. I hope this never changes.
• She is the best big sister - always making sure Millie has her toys and isn't upset. 
• She's also started throwing tantrums, so I'm guessing we're smack in the middle of the dreaded "terrible twos." YAY.

I could probably write forever about her, but you get the gist. ;-) Basically, she's a two year old and I can hardly believe it. When she's not throwing tantrums she's a bundle of fun, and I'm loving it. 

Happy Birthday to the sweet little girl who made me a mama.

Love you forever, Bean.

Oops

So.... Hi. It's been a while. 

I think this might have been the first time I've taken a completely unexpected blogging hiatus. I can't even really say why, other than to say because life. I was pretty much a crazy person without Joe here in February. I'm still not even really sure how we survived, but we did. Actually, I had help. At least once a week a friend would come over, watch the kids for me, and I'd go get groceries. Twice, the same friend came over and also cleaned my house. She's basically the awesomest person ever. Anyway. It was rough, but we survived. And all the kudos to all my milspouse friends/readers who have done a deployment with a newborn. I can't even imagine.

Once Joe got back the first week of March, life didn't really slow down all that much. The second weekend of March, we drove up to NC to have an early birthday party for Charlotte, and so that part of our family could meet Millie. The following weekend, my parents drove in from Oklahoma and stayed for 4 days. The same week they were here, Joe started ALC. The weekend after that was Charlotte's actual birthday. 

Millie and our oldest niece, Eden.

Charlotte before her birthday party in NC.

My mom with the girls. 

And that brings us to April. 

So, yeah. It's been nuts around here. I'm hoping that I'll be able to find a few minutes here and there to get back to blogging again. I've missed it!! And I have a few things planned, so stay tuned! :)

And here's hoping more than 3 people are still reading this thing... ;-)