4 months!

So after many threats from the four people that actually read this blog (Keeley, Whitney, Kelly, and dad) I am writing another post. But just for the record,,,I just dont think there are alot of exciting things going on right now to post!! But I will put together a couple stories for this one just for you guys!

We took Charlie to his first pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago. Little chilly but I was determined to get a great family photo. So the 14 year old that was working seemed like the perfect person to come take a snapshot of this momentous occasion. Little did I know he was going to near cut off Ash's head in the photo and not center at all. Bless his heart. (this one doesnt look so bad,,,but the other one was ridiculous. I do not see photography in this kids future,,,maybe just pumpkins)

So Halloween rolls around and everyone wants to know what Charlie will be. But for the record I have NEVER been a fan of scary stuff and after I grew out of the plastic masks of strawberry shortcake and wonderwoman,,,my eyes were opened to lots of scary creatures. I remember going trick or treating at our old house with Todd and Keeley. You guys remember that? Good times. Of course now that I am a dental hygienist, I understand the detriment candy can cause to your teeth. Yet another reason to skip Halloween. I hate scary commercials promoting scary movies. Even the Verizon ones that talk about the "dead-zone". Seriously!! Can you come up with a better slogan? yeesh.

So Ash wants to know what Charlie was going to be for his first year. I was going to be creative and have him be a "biker baby". His Aunt Jennifer got him a cute onesie that has a baby on a motorcycle and and the head would be Charlies. Then my hairstylist Nikki got him a rock-n-roll sweatshirt. Ok. so not exactly black leather chaps but he was going to be a "Bad to the bone baby." Ash was embarrassed at my attempt so here are those pics. I will do better next year. Promise:) I mean its not like he was out walking around asking for candy. He was watching the UT game to be exact...

Also, last night we got together with our dear friends the Rayburns. We have grown up with this family and around the holidays used to always get together for dinner and exchanging of presents. Of course summer times were filled with trips to Opryland and still would be had Nashville not have made the bonehead call to tear it down. Anywho, over time with new marriages and kids we havent been able to get together as often, but last night we finally got together at Mrs. Dixie's house. It was perfect! Great to laugh at old stories and new ones, and see all the kids playing! Mom was taking pictures, but she may have taken photo lessons from the 14 year old at the pumpkin patch cause half of hers had heads cut off or mouths full of food. I cant pull the good ones up to my post,,, something wrong with the attachment or some computer lingo. But we love you guys and loved loved loved getting together!

Couple more pics of my now 4 month old!!! BANANAS!

I do have some cute Christmas outfits though,,,and some cute Turkey Day ones too!!! So I will put my biker baby in those a little later....

Its football time in Tennessee!

So, last weekend we went to Atlanta to see Ash's brother, Jennifer and grandparents. Lots of family down there and Jennifer was nice enough to give us tickets to a Braves game! Lets just say he made it about 5 minutes sitting in our lap before we had to walk a few laps to get him to settle down. Here are some pics from that trip:

2 of my favorite men in my life,,,if only my dad was in the picture too:)

experimenting with Mcdonalds ice cream on the way home,,,(no mom--he didnt eat it:)

And today we watched the UT/Georgia game with everyone and also celebrated mom and dads birthday and Travis FINALLY moving home! We are gonna start to combine mom and dads birthday,,much easier that way:) Everyone was in orange except Ash. UT unexpectedly stomped UGA 43-19. Crazy.
Yes I cut my hair,,,and can you find where Charlie slobbered on me?





We are so glad to have our Travy-Wavy home for good!

the boys enjoying the game and LU-LU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM AND DAD!

And then a quick diaper/wardrobe change and....TAA-DAA!!! Another UGA fan!

what do you think he looks better in? I think orange,,,brings out his gorgeous blue eyes!! Oh well,,we are so glad football season is finally here!!

Jello-Legs

SO....I havent posted in awhile because our computer crashed. Yes. Crashed. Gone. Lost lots and lots of pictures. I got that horrible pit in my stomach,,,oh yeah,,,Ash lost some business stuff too but i lost PICTURES!!! Women know how important pictures are, and so this loss was a devastating one. Other than that,,,here are some new pics of my Charlie.

We went to Memphis not too long ago to see grandparents and cousins. Here Charlie is with Gran watching Baby Einstein. No,,,kidding. Next best thing---FOX NEWS.

here with Nana and Gran...

We have started this week of working on tummy time for real. Earlier I would do it and he would cry,,,so I held him instead. :)

Reading MOO, BAA, LA LA LA

So, yesterday we went for a walk. I am trying to get him used to the Baby Bjorn so I plopped him in there. He whined for a bit as I talked to him on our walk around our street which is 1.4 miles long. Why is it that when you talk to babies you add a "W" to most words? For example,,,"how is my widdle boy today?" Anyway,,,so towards the end of our walk I looked at him and he was asleep. I didnt want to wake the sleeping dragon so I decided to walk some more. Take another lap,,,get some fresh air. An HOUR later,,,I was about to pass out. I decided to chance it and go inside mainly because I was worried my jello legs were going to give out any minute. I quietly opened the door,,,those blue eyes pop open,,,,and this is what happened:

The sleeping dragon woke up. Obviously. So we took our baths(because mommy smelled horrid from walking ten miles) and here he is all smiles again,,,

Then we decided to eat a snack.

Here he is looking at a ceiling fan, They always make him laugh. Whoever invented ceiling fans,,bless you.

Mommy is now off to ice my knees. :)

6 hours!!!

So over Labor Day weekend, mom and I decided to drive to Michigan to see my older brother, Kim, Palmer, and Lainey Hope. They had yet to meet Charlie so this was perfect timing. We left on Friday, but Thursday I was really hoping I could get some good sleep for the long drive ahead. Well, my prayer was answered because he slept from 10:30-5:30!!! Whoo-hoo right? So you would think I would have slept that whole time,,,,,wrong!

I woke up around 3:45 panicking because I could not hear him. So over the next hour I got up, walked into his room, put my face right into his so i could feel his breath about 10 times!!!

Ridiculous. Then when I finally relaxed and started to fall back to sleep my angel woke up. Oh well,,,lately he has been sleeping longer, but last night was every 3 hours again. But I know he CAN sleep longer,,,so I hold onto this idea with every last bit of strength I have:) This too shall pass Mere,,,this too shall pass,,,(my mantra)


Here are some pics from the trip up North. My precious niece Laniey Hope got into my mascara,,hilarious. Hazardous? sure. But funny too. Oh, and her first word was "shoes". Randy is in for an expensive baby girl! :)

Lainey Hope LOVED Charlie,,,calling him her "Ba-e Cha-e"

Now while this looks dangerous I assure everyone I had the situation under complete control. I am the aunt,,,so whatever they want to do is fine with me. :)))

Aunt Kimmy making Charlie laugh!

Palmer holding Charlie. That precious boy turns 7 in October! I cant believe it,,,

Priceless...

Lainey loved patting Charlie's head,,,,little rough at times:), but overall adorable!

Look at my little flirt!!!

I guess with this face I could stay up all night if he wanted me too!!

Mom of the year? Hardly!

So yesterday we took our man to get his first shots. I didnt realize how traumatic that was gonna be for everyone! I was dreading it all day,,,promised him ice cream afterwards (actually for me) and the trusty old saying my mom used to say to me--"I wish I could get the shots instead of you." Yeah right.


She brought in 4 different shots! Ash was holding him, and I was kissing his head and ears while she gave him his first shot. I didnt know if he would feel it that much cause he is a bit of a chunky monkey:) But as soon as the first shot happened, his face went red, mouth wide open, and the silent cry commenced. It was pitiful. Here are some afterwards with the band aids...

So, I have had a bad case of mommy brains. The other day I put my glass of milk in the cabinet instead of the dishwasher. I also left our crock pot on for an entire week!!! Yep. I did. Did I mention that our house caught on fire a few years ago so we try to be careful around fire? OUr crockpot sits in a cubby in the cabinet. So, I was going to put something in to have a nice dinner for Ash when he came home, lifted the sliding door to get it out and the smell was horrid. The lid had melted to the pot. Unbelieveable. Praise the Lord we did not have another fire!



Another reason to be nominated for "Mom of the Year" is our walk we took the other day. It was beautiful outside, and so I wanted to show him all that nature had in store for him. Here is the progression of the walk...


Fine so far...



starting to get upset...



notice the redness,,,really mad now!



as soon as we got home,,,sleeping.

Love this little man!!

Happy Birthday Bennett!

Happy Happy Birthday to our sweet nephew/cousin Bennett!!! He turned 2 last Thursday and we had a birthday party for him at Trav & Kelly's house Saturday. He has come a long way in 2 years, but we know God is faithful and he will continue to watch over our sweet one.


Charlie and Bennett--Two WILD AND CRAZY GUYS!! :)

Trav and Kelly's brother --Chris

So shortly after this photo of dad was taken, he got up to take some glasses inside. Only he failed to acutally open the glass sliding door so WHAMO! Smacked right into the door,,,we all held our breaths to make sure he wasnt going to fall backwards or anything,,then all burst out laughing! Love you dad!

In this picture I totally look preggers,,,but trust me I am not. Very blousy top!

Today after church I made Charlie take this pic with me in a sweet outfit his dad hates!

Our 4th anniversay was Thursday too,,,Bennetts birthday! Here Charlie is crying again:)

Dont you just want to kiss all on those cheeks? So he is happy too,,,he doesnt cry all the time! I do have a question for all you moms,,,I am trying to get him to take a bottle and so far its not going well. Just one bottle every other day, so if anyone has any tips let me know!

Misconceptions,,,

There are a few misconceptions about having a baby that I would like to talk about today. Acutally, my views were obviously competely skewed. :) First of all, I remember thinking how moms can stay in their pj's all day long and not change clothes at all. But here it is, almost 1 in the afternoon and I am still in mine and have no plans of changing anytime soon. I am pretty sure I brushed my teeth though,,,pretty sure. I probably need to invest in some cuter pj's though. Its just funny how the day goes by so fast! I thought that with a newborn I would have all the time in the world, not too far from my previous life. But for us, it all is well until naptime. I cant get my little man to nap without it being on me. Oh well, this too shall pass.

Staying with the time misconception, we went to Florida this past week with my family. In my former life I would have been on the beach about 8 hours. I was probably on the beach 6 hours total for the week. And this was fine! Ash, mom, or Kelly would watch him while I went to the beach. Funny though how your perspective changes when you become a mom. All these teenagers who are barely wearing nothing, walking around,,,where are their parents? Some of the parents are right there with them! Kelly and I loved to watch the guys try to hit on the girls,,setting up their towels a few feet from the girls and tried to work their mojo on them. Hysterical. They had their IPOD playing and one guy actually sang a part of "Whatever you like" thinking he was the coolest. Praise the Lord I am not doing that nonsense anymore.

Here are some pics from Florida of Charlie and Bennett: Here is Granna playing with the boys

walking on the beach at night,,,only time I brought him out:)

All this to say, my hats off to all moms. Especially ones with two or more kids. I dont know how you do it but you are amazing!

I am now at least going to go change my pjs:)