Baby Steps

My baby is almost ONE!  Only one more week to go, and her age will no longer be counted in months...but in years.  Crazy, crazy, crazy.  Her due date was July 9th, and she was almost a whole week late! Silly girl.  She was just as stubborn then as she is now!  I am loving every minute spent with this little one.  She has such a fun personality.  She makes people laugh wherever we go.  

Today she did something pretty amazing....she took a couple tiny steps!! ON HER OWN! Jon and I were finishing up hanging some things on the wall in Charleigh's room, and there she was standing, looking around (which she has been doing for quite a while now).  I had a good sized picture frame in my hand that she seemed interested in, so I put it out in front of her and when she went to grab it I placed it just out of her reach (cruel, I know...but I wanted to see those little feet move so badly!).  And they did!  I saw one tiny step and got so excited...I yelled and Jonny who was hanging something on the wall.  He was bummed he missed it-so I tried again-and she took 3 steps this time! AHHH! I was smiling so big and screaming!  Then I tried AGAIN and she took a couple more small steps and decided that she was done for the day :) I am so happy I got to see her take these first steps, and that it was with our little family on a Sunday afternoon.  I was so worried I wouldn't get to see her first steps, with going to work and all-and I knew it was going to happen soon.  I even joked around with Jenna (who is watching Char) to push her over if she thought Charleigh was going to take any steps without me there! HA! (...I was serious) :) 

YAY!  

And, yes, I did inform Jenna of this-so she won't be pushing my child over if she decides to walk a little ;)

Jill, Laney and Garre are coming to the beach Tuesday (along with Gramma and Pop Pop)!!! THIS TUESDAY! I am bummed I have to work-but I will still get to enjoy some of their company, and get to hang out with them this weekend for Charleigh Grace's FIRST BIRTHDAY!! Laney is so excited to play with baby "Chayee" and build a sandcastle with Uncle Jon Jon boy.  LOTS OF PICTURES COMING YOUR WAY! :)

One more month to go!

Likes

Baths

Splashing

Being outside

Climbing

Being nakey

Talking to yourself when you play

Waving bye bye

Eating (you want whatever mommy and daddy are eating-and not baby food!)

Snack time

Walks

Your blanket

Cuddling with Dada

Baby Signing Time

Exploring

Music

Standing

Dislikes

Putting jammies and diaper on after bath-time

Baby food

Nap time (at least on your own...you want mommy to rock you!)

(these sitting down pictures were HARD TO GET! You do not want to sit still at all anymore!)

You are a wild child!! :) But we LOVE it.  You have such a cute personality, and are beginning to say words! Mama (mostly when you are crying or mad), Dada, and bye bye.  You sign along with your Baby Signing time video (you do "more more" and "milk").  You sleep through the night...somtimes...and most of the time you get up between 4-5am, nurse, and then go right back to bed.  I honestly haven't cut that feeding out yet because I LOVE snuggling with you when the sun is almost rising.  I know it won't be too much longer that I get this special time with you, so I will take it for as long as you will let me :)....well ok, not THAT long...but just a tad longer ;).  Your Daddy and I fall more and more madly in love with you with each passing day.  You get so excited when Daddy walks through the door...you crawl as fast as you can to him with a HUGE smile on your face.  You want what everyone is eating...not stinky baby food.  So no more baby food in our house!  Your favorite foods are yogurt (plain!), cheese, bagels, pbj sandwiches, scrambled eggs and veggie patties! Yum yum! You usually eat whatever Mommy and Daddy are eating.  Oh our little nugget, you are almost one year old...::sigh::.  How do you grow so fast!? You are learning so much!  You stand all on your own now, all the time! You just pop right up and stand, look around, and then smile so big! I'm just waiting for you to figure out you can move those little feet and legs of yours.  Then you will be RUNNING! (I don't think you will just walk)  Mama better get in shape if she is going to keep up with you! :)  You love bathtime, and stick your face in the water and blow bubbles! Such a water-baby! It makes us laugh so hard.  You are our entertainment these days.  So much fun.  You are mostly happy, except when teething :(  You have 7 teeth right now and a couple on the way!  

WE LOVE YOU CHAR CHAR!!

Mama & Dada

 

100th Post!

Changes in our routine

We have a couple changes taking place around the Foley home.  The change that set everything into motion is that I will be working for about 8 weeks this summer! I am actually really excited about this opportunity.  I am getting some mixed reactions from people-with me having a baby and all-but I’m not too worried about them.  I think this will help me decide whether I want to be a working mom (more than likely just part time…even thinking about being away from Charleigh 5 days a week, 8 hours a day makes me cry); or if I want to be a full time mommy (which I love!).  No, Jon is not “forcing” me to work.   I get those looks when I tell people that I will be working this summer.  He has been so supportive through all of this.  This was a decision I came to on my own.  I need to do this for myself.  I need to see if this is something I want to pursue.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE staying home with Charleigh, but I think this Mama needs some time to figure some of her life out ;) (…on her own).  

A couple weeks ago I had an interview (4 hours worth!).  ::sigh:: ::nervoustwitch::  Just thinking about that day gives me the sweats!  No joke, my armpits were a hot mess after this thing.  I had to do a spelling test, a comprehension test, an interview, and some roll playing with their learning steps (that I had just learned about 5 minutes prior).  However, I felt at ease with the whole process.  After learning more about what this company does I got excited about a job (for the first time in my life) and REALLY wanted to be a part of what they have goin on!  The interview DID help me realize I am a horrible speller!  Ex: I spelled Camouflage like this: Chamoflauge (Really? Where did the H come from?...I blame it on the pressure!!) And receive I spelled: recieve (the whole time I had in my head “I before E except after C”…but it just didn’t look right to me! Again…the pressure!!) ;) All in all it seemed as if everything fell into place.  I am thankful for this opportunity.  The only downside (ok, besides me having to leave my little nugget!) is that my sis is coming to visit for 2 weeks in July and I will only get to see her about 3 days out of the 14 she will be here L I admit, I cried for about a whole day because of this.  Time with my sister is precious to me, especially now that she lives so far away.  But I am hoping to take Char out to visit them in Texas sometime this fall.  And I will get to see and spend time with her a little while she is here.

My friend Jenna will be watching Charleigh for us.  She is (Dun dun da dun!...::music::)a  SUPER NANNY!  I am not in the slightest nervous about leaving Char with her.  She is amazing with kids (has two of her own, watches another one).  I will miss my nugget, but I know she is in great hands!  And, like I said earlier, this job is only for about 8 weeks…I can do 8 weeks, right? 

Jon is being so supportive, and is excited for me too.  He keeps saying, “you know you don’t HAVE to do this, right?”  He wants me to know that I can stay home with Charleigh, that I don’t have to work, that he is fine being the provider for us.  I love that about him.  He is so sweet.  But we have both decided this will be a nice thing for me.  Maybe even help me feel more connected to where we are living at the moment.  The move has been a difficult transition for me (although I try not to talk about it too much), so maybe this is something that will help :) 

There is also an opportunity to work part time or full time with this company if I choose (and if they like me enough;)) But we shall take it one step at a time and decide all that stuff later.

 I realized I never mentioned where it is that I am going to work!  I will be a summer clinician at Lindamood Bell Processing Center.  There I will be working mostly with kids.  If you want to know more, you can visit their website here.  It really is interesting all they do with children (and adults as well).  They are not a tutoring center like I first thought.  Anywho, the company originated in SLO where I will be working.  Excited to begin this little adventure!

I am comforted by this verse found in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 when I see all that is ahead:

“There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
    a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,

     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace”

I have always loved this verse, and many of you may know the the song “Turn, turn, turn” 

sung most famously by The Byrd’s that incorporates these verses.  I have always had a love for that song (I think I first heard it in the Forrest Gump Soundtrack! Ha.).  And what makes it even more special is that it was adapted from scripture.  Awesome.

 

10 months old

Charleigh Grace- You are 10 months old!  It seems you are learning something new everyday!!

Likes: Eating-anything! (except apples)

Rocking with Dada

Smiling

Giggling

Playing in your room

Bathtime (you have graduated to the big girl tub!...and you are wild!)

Drinking out of a sippy

Saying Dada....dadadada

Dislikes: Getting something taken away from you and being told "no"

Putting a diaper & jammies on after bathtime

Apples 

Green beans

You now have 4 teeth! And are on your way to having 6! Two more just poked through.  You are close to waving bye bye-but aren't quite there yet :)  When you take a bath, you are non stop!  You drink the water from the faucet, you lay on your tummy and splash, and crawl around everywhere (I gave up trying to make you sit still! Just NO STANDING!).  You are definitely a water baby!! You ate at your very first sit down restaurant on Mother's Day.  We ate at a little place called Zorro's in Shell Beach.  You got some of mommy's yummy pancakes! Mmmm. They were gobbled up quickly between the two of us! ;) When Dada comes home from work you get so excited and crawl straight for him.  You are a joy to be around, and for the most part always happy (unless we are putting your jammies on after bathtime)! :)  We love you baby!

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Mama & Dada

Night Walk

My mom and dad came to visit this past weekend.  We had so much fun!  Charleigh LOVES her Gramma & Pop Pop!  They arrived Saturday morning.  Jon has been working on our backyard (laying stone for a patio & putting seed in for grass), so after he finished up with that we all headed off the the beach for lunch and play time!  Charleigh, again, loved being at the beach!  The only downside was that she kept shoveling, again, handfuls of sand into her mouth!! It was worse than last time (I didn't know that was possible!) Ay yai yai that child of mine! ICK!  Once she is down by the water she is less tempted by the sand-so that's where she was most of the time.  My mom and dad watched her crawl around and enjoy the water.  My dad stepped on a nail a couple days prior to coming, so we was a little uncomfortable the whole trip-but he was a good sport.  Wouldn't even know he was in the pain he was!  Crazy Pop Pop!  To help dry Charleigh off before we headed out Jon and I took her on a walk down the beach.  We decided that everytime she/we came to play at the beach we would pick a small rock and put it in a mason jar.  That way when she is older she will have these to do whatever she wants with :)  We'll see how it works!  

Anywho...we should get to reason behind the title of this post "Night Walk".  My mom and I decided to go on a little night walk Saturday.  It was the Super Moon that night, and very bright out!  I took a couple of pictures.  Some are slightly blurry-but I kinda like the look of it!  We saw an owl on a power line right in front of the moon.  I told my mom I wanted to go back and get my camera to take a good picture of it-but when we came back it had moved, and was perched on the power line pole.  Not as great of a picture, but still cool looking.  As I was snapping away the owl ruffled its feathers and swooped down toward me....I thought I was going to be owl dinner.  I turned around and ran while screaming "moooooooommmm!"  (she was watching me from a distance) All while flailing my arms to hopefully get the owl to NOT land on me!  I haven't ran that fast since 6th grade when I did the 100 meter dash!  Seriously...I thought I was going to have an owl attached to my back when I reached where my mom was standing, no joke.  I went to Scicon, I know how big those talons are!  I was scared!  No telling what ACTUALLY happened, or how low the owl ACTUALLY came to landing on me (because to me it was REALLY REALLY close)...but it was dark and when the owl swooped low it disappeared into the horizon before I turned my back and ran!  We saw it in a nearby tree after this incident...but I didn't dare try to attempt another picture.  I was out of breath and my adrenaline was flowing...crazy bird! :)  

Beach Babe

Last Saturday we took Charleigh to the beach.  It was a beautiful day-couldn’t be a more perfect beach day!  The sun was out-but it wasn’t too hot.  There was a nice cool breeze-but not windy making it too cold.  

Awesome.  

It was the first time that we let Charleigh actually play in the sand and water.  I wrangled her into her bathing suit, and slathered sunscreen ALL over.  I think she knew we were going somewhere fun, because she was such a good girl while I dressed her (this is normally a HUGE ordeal, ending up in tears). 

  Jon, Charleigh and I decided to head up to Avila Beach.  We ate lunch (fish & chips, and calamari…YUM!)  Charleigh ate some of the fish and loved it! But really, I haven’t found anything she WON’T eat.  Ha.  Then we headed down to the sand.  I tried to fill her belly up with food so she would be less tempted to put anything in her mouth (or so I hoped!)  This wasn’t as successful as I had thought…As soon as she was in the sand she scooped up a handful of sand and in the mouth it went.  Jon, who isn’t used to seeing this as much as me who is around her all day, just sat there saying “Ew, Charleigh.  Stop.  Stop.  That’s gross.  Ew.  Charleigh, baby, don’t put that in your mouth!”  Haha.  I knew there would be no stopping her.  That she has to eventually learn on her own.  But I thought MAYBE she would realize that sand doesn’t really taste all that yummy and wouldn’t continue to stuff handfuls into her mouth.  Boy was I wrong.  (We tried keeping the paci in too...fail again) So I followed her around, and everytime she ate a mouthful I would go over, she would open her mouth, and I would wipe her tongue off.  J  I don’t think she got as much sand as we thought actually into her mouth….(or that’s what I keep telling myself).  

When we took her down to the water she LOVED it!  If we let her, I think she would’ve crawled all the way in and swam away! ;)  She is definitely a water baby.  Everyone she crawled past commented on how cute and brave she was!  Some parents were trying to get their own kids into the water by pointing to Charleigh, saying “Look, that baby isn’t scared of the water! Go play with her!”  She really loved it, and probably would’ve stayed out there for forever if we let her.  I think the water distracted her as well, so she didn’t have as many “sand in the mouth” incidents.  

My little water baby.  I love it.  

On the ride home she was OUT!  The busy day wore our little nugget out J  

That’s a good sign of a successful beach day!

Baby Bump

While visiting my beautiful friend Emily, I got to get some gorgeous maternity photos of her.  I wanted to do some more inside shots of her-with lace and frills-but time wasn't on my side.  And there was a ton packed into the day and a half that we were there, so these are the ones I snapped.  I let her pick the location since I'm not too familiar with the Redding area.  She took us to a beautiful walkway along the Sacramento river.  I really wanted to just grab a kayak and go in!  It was a fun, relaxing photo shoot-with some friend talk sprinkled throughout.  Our other friend, Amy, also joined the shoot.  She came up from Orange County to visit.  We had a lovely girl outing that ended with Thrifty's ice cream! YUMM! (What's a girl outing without ice cream, really?) Here are some of the pictures I took.

I have really come to enjoy taking maternity pictures.  I have so many ideas for more photo-ops! So if you are interested in a session or just a little curious, don't hesitate to e-mail me!  There is something so refreshing about a mother-to-be.  Maybe it's because when I was pregnant it was the most beautiful I have ever felt.  I had a reason to be the size I was (and I never obsessed over my weight while pregnant), there was a life growing inside of me (how could I not glow with happiness!?), and I was so excited with all that was happening! 

:)