Confessions of a First Time Mom: Take lots of pictures

You know how everyone always says: "they grow up so fast" ?
Well as a kid I always thought that was such a crap saying. When I was six I thought that I would die before my next birthday ever rolled around. I swear I was 6 and a half for AGES.
But alas, here I am, about to turn 30 next month (What? 40 is the new 30 right?) and it seems that there are birthdays every time I turn around.
So when people told me: "take lots of pictures, they grow up so fast". I couldn't help but role my eyes. What? Clearly I know WAY more about being a parent than all of you who have been through it. And although I didn't really take the advice to heart, I do think I've taken a fair number of photos....more just because I enjoy taking photos. And yes, it's going by too fast. Much too fast. Insert sad face here.
But I think we're creating a pretty decent stockpile of photos to remember all these early months by:

Like this one - how cute is that 'lil belly?!
(Last weekend the Mr. and I did a mini photo shoot - he's an excellent helper! These are C at 5 1/2 months)



And this one!!!


And this one that you can't fully appreciate because I refuse to post baby porn - grown-up Charlotte will thank me:

This past Saturday we woke up with absolutely no agenda. There were no trips to the grocery store, or runs to the suburbs planned.
So we took our time getting up and around, fed Charlotte, walked the dogs, etc.
We packed up a blanket and some reusable bags and set out.
We enjoyed lunch on the lawn at the farmers market and then we tackled another first.

First zoo trip. Charlotte wasn't really that excited (obviously). Instead she was WAY more into all of the people than the actual animals. Regardless Troy and I had fun walking around and pointing everything out to her!

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to my amazing husband! We had a great day here. We made homemade blueberry muffins per Troy's request. I mixed while C drooled on the recipe. All about the team work here.
Then we spent the morning just relaxing and watching a movie.

(Haha! This picture cracks me up!)


The afternoon was a mix of picture taking, gourmet sandwich making, and a walk.



This evening we're grilling out and watching another movie. Pretty much a perfect day.

I love you Troy - you are an amazing husband and a wonderful father!

Charlotte's Web: Mommy's a Crap Driver

Hi. Over the past five months I've been silently observing the habits of my Mom and Dad. Just sitting back, and keeping my mouth shut. Well, that's over. My vocal cords along with my toes have alas been found.

So here I am chillin' in the back seat today while my mom and I are driving home from school when all of the sudden the woman slams on her brakes and the soggy mess of a toy that I've been gnawing on goes flying out my mouth. Seriously, a heads up would be awesome.

Seeing that I face backwards I wasn't a first hand witness but here's what I could gather from the one sided conversation that Mom was having with herself:

Bike. Sidewalk. A**hole. Bikes don't belong on the sidewalk.
I only had the above to go off of but here is an illustration that I've put together. Only one casualty suffered: my plush toy plummeted to the floor . I mourned all the way home at the top of my lungs.

Cold Wars

I understood that Charlotte being born in January meant battling cold and flu season from day one. So I religiously washed my hands, asked strangers not to touch her and carried a bottle of hand sanitizer wherever we went.
All was well and good until we started daycare. On the bright side (so everyone tells me) when she starts school she'll be healthy as a horse...although I'm not sure what that means.... A horse? Are they really that healthy? I digress.
Since daycare we've battled 3 colds in varying degrees. The first was cake walk. The second was bad. The third we're still battling. Below are my weapons (of mass congestion):

1.) Snot Sucker
2.) Saline drops
2.) Lavender and Chamomile Rub
3.) Steam Shower (meaning we turn the shower on as hot as it goes and sit in the bathroom for 15 mins
4.) Humidifier
5.) Blanket to prop up the mattress so that she sleeps at an angle

So far the propped up mattress and the rub have been the most helpful.

Nursery Gossip?

Charlotte's daycare is set up based on age groups. For instance, Charlotte is in one of four infant rooms. There are also Toddler, Waddler, Pre-K, etc. The reason this is important is because for C's room there is a baby gate at the door to keep all the mobile kids in. Makes sense right? Right.
But wouldn't it also make sense to have a baby gate that is easy to take down and put back up? For instance the ones that swing open and re-latch.
When I have one hand carrying a car seat with what feels like a 30lb infant (don't worry, I'm not overfeeding her, she's really only about 15 pounds) and the other clutching my phone, car keys and a cooler full of her milk I'm out of hands.
Not a big deal right? Wrong.
Mama wears skirts. A lot.
And in order to get into the room I have to straddle the baby gate. Clearly you can see the problem.
So my question is this: Do you think the nursery kids talk?

Do you think the goo, goo's and ga, ga's equate to:

"Wow, Charlotte, your mom is a fluezie!"
"You don't stand a chance Charlotte"
"No need for daddy issues....you'll have enough mommy issues"

A Day of Firsts

Charlotte took her first steps!!!!

No, not really. C'mon, she's not even 5 months old! But I got your attention right?

Although maybe not as impressive as first steps or first words we did have a very big Saturday chalked full of new experiences.

We started the day out at the farmers market. Because we spent the first 4 months of Charlotte's life in KS we hadn't been able to make it to the farmers market yet this season. So the first weekend that we were home with no plans I made sure this was on the adgenda. C absolutely loved it. We took a blanket and after getting a few things we found the perfect shaded spot on the lawn. We enjoyed a Honey-Rhubarb popsicle and just soaked in the nice weather.



Next up was the first train ride. I had her in her Bjorn so she had a perfect view of everything that was going on. And have I mentioned how curteous ppl on the train are when it comes to babies and pregnant women? Must stem from that Midwest way of thinking.

Last was Charlotte's first street fest. In a city where it's cold 9 months out of the year we know how to take advantage of the nice weather. On any given weekend throughout the summer we have our choice of streetfests to attend. Usually involving some sort of theme, drinks, food, and music. This past weekend we chose Maifest - a German streetfest. It was packed! We didn't stay long but we did enjoy a tasty German beverage and a pretzel...what's a perfect summer day without a pretzel? A not-perfect summer day. Unfortunately for C all she saw at her level was a plethora of arm pits. Sorry Charlotte - we'll pick one a bit less crowded next weekend!