Random Mobile Pics

Pictures that I took from my phone in the last month or so...

Shop 'til you drop. Maggie and Charley take a snooze at the outlets in Gaffney.

Yes, we still have Sadie. Yes, she's still an inside dog. Yes, she still gets lovin' (sometimes).
An icky bug that was crawling on a flower stem in our yard. It was white and spikey.

My D-group singing a Christmas carol to a random couple at Chick-fil-A (long story).

Charley and her bow-band. Full of smiles!!

In 40 Days...

Finally an Update

Things are going well here... Fall is here and life is busy. Our little girl is growing so fast! She's now into oatmeal (think extra-fine-baby-kind not instant-maple-and-brown-sugar), and as you can see, it's going pretty well (when it actually stays in her mouth). We tried rice cereal for awhile first, but she prefers the oatmeal.
Donald had his first football game last night (little league), and they won 22 - 0. Yay!
Over the last few weeks, I have been very passionate about several things. 1. Politics. I have discovered that Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham get me too fired up for my own good. I love listening to them, but I seriously want to go pick a fight with someone once I'm through. And that's exhausting. Not that I actually pick a fight, it's just exhausting being fired up enough to want to pick a fight 2. Football. Need I say more?? 3. My faith and my time...how those two things should be united, but somehow end up being worlds apart sometimes. Okay, so this is completely random in regards to this post, but I just have to share with you the following excerpt from a sermon by Matt Chandler. I love it.

"Christians are no better than non Christians. In fact, the believer in Christ who's actually been converted and understands the scriptures, doesn't see himself as morally fit for God at all. In fact, he sees himself as so desperately broken that unless God sends Jesus to become a wrath-absorbing sacrifice for our lives, that we have no chance at ever being restored. ...Christians continually show that they don't understand the Gospel by pretending they are more moral and more devoted than everyone else...That's not the Gospel. In fact, it's the enemy of the Gospel. The Gospel's not for the "more" moral and the "more" devoted...the Gospel of Jesus saves. Saves us from what? From us. Our inability to be as devoted as we need to be, Our inability to be as moral as he's commanded us to be."

4-Months-Old!

Charley with my sister, Stephanie, and her family

Charley turned four-months-old on Saturday, Aug 30th. Wow. Time flies. We went to the doctor today and she is 26.25 inches long and 14 lbs 4 oz. Here is what's going on in her sweet little life...

During her third month she...

• Started looking at the pictures while we read to her.
• Started smiling on demand.
• Started giggling...kinda.
• Rolled over twice... unintentionally.
• Mastered the bottle after three months of trying nearly every day. Finally! Yay for Charley!
• Began sucking on her bottom lip if she is tired and doesn't have a paci.
  

Recent developments...

• One of my favorite things to do with her has been to put her in my lap facing me, with her back propped up against my knees and read, sing, or have a "conversation" with her. She doesn't like this anymore. She'd prefer to be sitting up, so when I lay her back on my knees, she strains her neck forward as to say, "let me sit up!!"
• She now will look at me from across the room and smile if I acknowledge her. I love this! Previously, she really had no awareness of what was going on in the room. She still doesn't really notice Sadie much.
  
• Charley used to go down for naps pretty easily... She has very clear "I'm tired" signs, and when they turn on, I put her down in her crib and she normally falls asleep after about 5 - 10 min of fighting it by flailing her arms around, grabbing her face, and pulling her hair. Well, starting last week or so, she started propping herself up on her arms and looking around the room as soon as I put her down. Like so: She will then proceed to grunt and drool for about 10 minutes until her neck gets tired and then face-plant into her paci, onto the now wet-with-drool mattress. She then whines for her paci, which at this point, is jammed up under her neck. Yeah, this pretty much drives me crazy. I usually will dislodge the paci, give it to her, and then she's usually out.
• We lowered her crib Monday night because of the above head-bobbing ritual. We're afraid she would tumble out one day. Anyways, the bumper and mobile actually fit right now, which is great, but now it's harder to lean in and kiss her at night, which is a bummer.
  
• Charley started using her hands recently. She will play with the toys on her [borrowed] exersaucer as well as the toucan and monkey that hang on her bouncy seat.
• She found her feet Labor Day Weekend! She now will grab her toes and play with her feet. They haven't made it to her mouth yet, although I'm sure that will happen soon.
• Charley now likes to talk to herself....loudly. Very loudly. I know this is a normal baby thing, but I usually don't need earplugs around other babies. Here's a clip from a car ride (sorry it's sideways).