Nashville Trip and Sponges

I've been horrible about updating the blog. Kelly doesn't understand why this is so since all I do is lounge around all day, eating bonbons and reading novels. I mean, surely I could do something productive like spend oodles of time on the internet, updating my blog. Anyways, sarcasm aside, I'm not exactly sure how a non-mobile eight month old occupies 100% of my time, but she certainly does. And I love it. It's the keeping up with the housework and cooking dinner while tending to Charley that wears me out (and leaves little room for anything else). Yes, I'm fully aware that everything will get even harder once A. Charley becomes mobile and B. when we have more children. I know this.


So, we went to Nashville two weekends ago. Baby Jrew had his baby dedication at church, and we went up to see them for the oh-so-special occasion. He is such a cute baby, not to mention good baby. Other than the church service and spending time with the Nashville Rose family, one of the highlights of our weekend was our visit to Monell's. Holy cow. If I thought Heaven was a place that was all about me and my earthly desires, Monell's would probably be my Heaven. Let me tell you about it. It's an old house in downtown Nashville that serves breakfast and lunch, family style. You sit at a big table and pass around big bowls of food. We went for the breakfast, which includes: cheese grits, eggs, biscuits, pancakes, potatoes, corn casserole, baked apples, bacon, sausage, ham, and last but not least, fried chicken. Oh, and I almost forgot -- cinnamon rolls! And sweet tea!! As Donald would say, it was slammin'. If you go to Nashville, go to Monell's. Thank you, Thomas and Dita, for having us in your home. You are gracious hosts, and we love spending time with you!

This is random, but Donald and I have different opinions on sponges, and I'd like to share them with you. Some of you have heard this already, so bear with me. Okay, so say you use a cutting board to cut up raw chicken. Okay, so you need to handwash the cutting board because you need it for something else and don't have time to stick it in the dishwasher. Okay, so there's nasty raw chicken stuff all over the cutting board, and you take a sponge, with soap on it, and clean it. Okay, so now it's clean. Now...what about the sponge? Doesn't it have nasty raw chicken stuff on it? This is where Donald and I disagree. Donald thinks the soap that killed the nasty raw chicken germs on the cutting board also killed it in/on the sponge so it's safe to use the sponge on other things. I think that the nasty germs are still on the sponge, and there's no way I would use the sponge to clean something else. So, I put all raw chickeny things in the dishwasher, always, and don't use the sponge on raw chickeny things, ever. That's why I have multiple cutting boards. I don't think that's being too germaphobic. I mean, if you used a paper towel to wipe up raw chicken off the counter, you wouldn't rinse it off and then use it to clean your hands. So I think it's the same with sponges.

New Kid in Town

You've probably heard me talk about Maggie, Charley's friend from Charlotte, who now lives just FIVE minutes away! We've already had a few play dates, which is also fun for the mommies because we are best of friends too.

100th Post

My 100th post will be about how I think it's silly that Wii Sports has been crowned the "best selling video game of all time." Of course it is. It comes with the console. Consumers are, for lack of a better word, forced to buy the game. If left to free will, the game probably would have been discontinued after the first year. Don't get me wrong, I like me some Wii bowling, I'm just saying it doesn't really seem like it deserves such a lofty title, considering half the Miis don't even have legs. The article I read about this said that they are coming out with Wii Sports - Resort in the fall. I think it has Jet Skiis and swimming with dolphins...and I suppose lounging by the pool, sipping a fruity drink. Okay, in post 101 I will resume blogging about my family. The End.

see, I wasn't kidding about the Jet Ski thing.

December at a Glance

It's about time that I updated the blog. Charley is now EIGHT months old, Christmas has come and gone, and we are all gonna have to get used to writing "2009" pretty soon. We've had good friends move away, and good friends move closer (goodbye Childri and Reeds... welcome McKees). Charley met her Great Aunt Libbie for the first time, and we met up with some friends who we haven't seen in years.

Reaching for the lights

We spent the week of Christmas in Charleston, seeing as many people as humanly possible. Charley was a trooper, getting hauled around and put to bed in different places. Not to mention this is the Christmas that will be remembered as the "hot Christmas." It was 78 on Christmas day, and we were all sweating in homes where the heat was on just days prior. Charley's fleece Christmas jammies didn't last very long, needless to say.

Charley and cousin, Jrew

As for a Charley update... She's so big! She seems heavy even to her own mother, and good gracious, hauling her in the carseat is nearly impossible. She now waves "hi" and "bye." If you see her, you may get a wave, or maybe she'll just stare at you like you're an idiot. That's pretty much the norm. Charley is not a snuggler, unfortunately. Sitting in our lap is way too boring I guess, because she squirms the entire time. Reading to her has even proved to be challenging. My mom says I was never much a cuddler either, so I guess she gets that from me. Dang it! She clams up in public, but at home is quite the chatterbox. Her favorite "words" are "daaadaaa" when she's happy and playing and "mummumuumm" when she's mad or frustrated. Hmm... go figure. No crawling yet. We are at the "sits in one place and plays with toys" stage. It's wonderful. Pretty soon that will be history, I know. The way they grow and change is such a miracle.

Charley likes to use this toy as a rear-view mirror.

That's it for now. See ya in the new year.

First Signs of Rhythm

This may bore the average viewer considering every baby does this, but it totally made us crack up. We consider it a "milestone," because it was the first interaction that Charley has had with us (other than smiling). The fun has begun. We look forward to many many more dancing sessions with daddy (and the commentary in the background is me talking to Bailey...and to answer the question at the end...her birthday is Saturday).

7 Months

Charley is now seven-months-old! She went from zero-to-sitting-up pretty much over night. I didn't think it would happen for along time, and then all of a sudden she mastered it.

We left Charley for the first time over night a few weeks ago. My parents came up and watched her so that we could go on a retreat with the high schoolers that we work with at church. She did really well (and so did mommy...once I finally said goodbye 5 times and got out the door).

Here's a pic of Charley and her great-grandfather, Thomas Rose. They are exactly 79 years 362 days apart in age!
Sorry I haven't posted in awhile! I didn't want to post something so vague, like above, but I guess something is better than nothing. I hope to post a video soon of Charley's newest "trick."

Six Point Five

Charley is now six-and-a-half months old! Can you believe it? Here are some pictures from the last few weeks along with her latest stats and habits...(for the grandmas, aunts, cousins, really bored friends, and a mommy who lost her memory during pregnancy and has to write everything down).

• Charley is now 17 lbs 3 oz and 27.25 inches long.
• She was completely weaned right at six months. We are now a straight-formula family, which seems to bring relief everywhere but the pocketbook. That stuff is powdered gold.
  
• Charley has slept on her tummy with her arms above her head since she was five-weeks-old. The only thing that would move during the night would be her head. Back and forth. Just recently she started rolling over on her back as soon as you put her down on her tummy, so we are now greeted with a smile after naps and in the morning instead of the back of her head. As well as you may find her in a different spot in the crib. Mobility is showing its face.
  
• She also will move around the room, but not by crawling. She will roll (over and over) to reach her destination. It's pretty cute, but it definitely calls for full attentiveness... I can't leave her on the floor, run to the bathroom, and then expect her to be in the same place when I return.
• She is now sleeping the coveted 12 -13 hour night. We have just gotten* there recently after cutting out an unnecessary 11pm feeding and prior to that a random 6am feeding every now and then. *Yes "gotten" is a word (in my book).
  
• So the mystery is... What to do about diapers for a baby who sleeps that long? We currently go in there and change her before we go to bed. This usually will help her make it through the night....most of the time. Please let me know if you have any tricks to help with this! My friends and I have joked about doing double diapers, adding cloth diapers under the pampers, etc. Haven't experimented with any of these ideas yet. :)
• And....last but not least....drum roll... Our big girl now has two teeth! One popped through last weekend while we were traveling and the other, right next to it, is just at the surface. She's handled it pretty well. We thought it was happening b/c she has been drooly, snotty, and a teeny bit fussy over the last couple of weeks.
• One more thing... We took our first family trip last week to New Orleans. Mainly business (for Donald) and some pleasure (and lots of good food!). Charley traveled very very well considering we were in the car for about 20 hours and she probably only fussed a total of 10 minutes. Charley- if you read this when you grow up, don't let anyone tell you that you were a bad baby (at least through your sixth month...keep it up!). Read the previous post for more details about our "journey."
  

"Oh pumpkin...You are just too funny...Get outta here."

"Mommy voted and all I got was this lousy sticker"