Cuteness overload

This year's Christmas card brought to you by Shutterfly and the following pictures courtesy of Kaylene Bain. 

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2 Months Already!

Charlotte turned 2 months old on Sunday and 9 weeks yesterday.  How in the world have 9 weeks flown by so quickly!  This milestone also meant my return to work. Booo.....

Check out this little lady:

At 2 months, Charlotte is changing every day.  She is smiling big, gushy smiles that make you feel like you are just absolutely her most favorite person in the entire world.  She is also cooing and doing the oh-so-sweet "ah-goo" sound.

Since birth, she has had an awesome mohawk.  We go with it and tell her she can get her wild streak out now.  If, one day, she wants a mohawk, we can tell her she's already gone through that phase...no need to repeat it. ;)  She has a very thick patch of hair on the crown of her head...I love running my fingers through it.  

I just happened to capture this photo.  It is significant, actually, because I have one of Collen doing the exact same thing.  Of course, I can't find it at the moment to show you, but believe me...exact same picture...just Collen and his dog.

At 2 months old, Charlotte weighs 10lbs 13oz, and she is 23 inches long.  She is in the 50th percentile for her weight and 75% for her height.  Her head circumference is 39cm, and she is in the 60th percentile for that.  She is hitting milestones when she should and growing well.  She is still breastfeeding (woo!) and continues to do very well with it.  She LOVES her big brother, Collen, and he adores her, too.  He can get a little competitive at times for attention, but when she cries, he is the first to try to console her.  He is going to be a great big brother and protector as they get older!  Charlotte is definitely fitting the typical "baby of the family" mold.  We all flock to her and do everything we can to make "Char-baby" happy.  We are all in love with this precious baby girl, and I pray every single day that God would please, please let us keep her.  She has fulfilled my life in ways I never imagined possible!

Now...who does she look like?  We get this questions ALL the time.  Most people say she is a good mix of both of the boys, and she is.  Some days, she reminds me so much of Collen.  Others...she is the spitting image of Ayden (except the dark, thick hair).  I'll let you decide:

Here is Collen around 2 months:                                           Ayden around 2 months:

I can definitely see both boys in her, but she looks most like Ayden.  If I didn't know that was Ayden in the picture on the right, I would think it was Charlotte - they look that similar to each other.

Our big transition - Mommy going back to work and kids going to the babysitter - took place this Monday.  All weekend, I was weepy and just on edge.  I so enjoyed my 8.5 weeks at home with my babies.  I felt like I was betraying them by going back to work...especially Charlotte.  I was/am terrified of leaving her.  I think that is to be expected, especially in our case.  I have taken it one day at a time, and each passing day gets a little easier.  I know she is in wonderful hands.  We are extremely blessed to be able to send them to a wonderful home during the day where they are loved and spoiled.  :)  

Being back at work has been okay.  Pumping is somewhat new to me, though, and it has been an adjustment.  I pumped some with Collen but only if we were leaving the house and needed milk on the go.  Now, having to purposefully pump in order to replenish the stock I left with the sitter....wow.  This is tough to do when you're a teacher.  I have to work around my planning period and the end of the day in order to time it out right.  So far, I've been able to pump enough to refill/replenish the bottles she gets during the day.  I'm hoping I can keep that up.  I know it's tough, and I can only do the best I can.  If I can make it to 6 months, I will be satisfied.  

Please continue to pray for us and for Charlotte.  Pray for her safety and for me/us to continue to trust God and His will....whatever it may be.  We are so thankful for Charlotte and Collen and the blessing they are to our lives every single day.  If they only knew how loved they are...it's amazing.

And I'll leave you with a quick video of Miss Charlotte so you can see her sweet little personality in action:

Halloween in Pictures :)

This was the first year we have "celebrated" Halloween.  We're not big on Halloween.  I have a strange phobia of the holiday, actually.  I, normally, am happy to just turn our lights off, hide in a back room with a movie and snacks, and wait the night out until November begins the next day. In 2009, Ayden had just passed away.  I had a tiny sock monkey costume that went unworn, and everywhere I looked babies were experiencing their first Halloween.  I just wanted it to go away.  The next year, Collen had just been born, and losing Ayden was still very fresh.  Collen did wear some super cute Halloween clothing, but I didn't dress him up.  Last year, Collen was a little over a year old, and my dad had just passed away.  We had been hit hard again, and just didn't feel like "celebrating"...especially a holiday where so many seem to glamorize death.  This year, though, with 2 kids, and Collen who is now old enough to participate and somewhat understand, we thought we would give it a shot.

We did participate in our church's "Trunk or Treat" event, which had to be held inside because Hurricane Sandy.  Halloween night, we met up with friends at their house where they hosted a Halloween party for the kiddos.  I enjoyed this and so did Collen; it was great to have all the kids get together and hit the houses for candy.  I felt much better about him being out with a group, and of course Jeremy took him.  Collen did very well, except he got upset when he couldn't go into the peoples' houses.  He didn't quite understand that part - our social boy - "Trick-or-Treat, and let me come in and stay awhile!" It was nice to gather with friends and let the kids have a good time mooching candy and being cute. :)  This year, Collen went as a pirate - a very cute one, I might add. ;)  We didn't dress Charlotte up in anything except some Halloween themed clothing and a cute pumpkin beanie.  Sadly, I don't have a picture of that because she spent most of Halloween night in a grumpy mood.  I'll try to get one, soon, though.

Hope you all enjoyed Halloween in whichever way you chose to!  I've loved seeing the pictures of all the kids dressed up.