My oh my...

I can't believe how bad I am at keeping up here! I know that a lot of people have stopped even looking here for updates because they know by now that I am just notoriously bad at keeping this blog updated! I hope to start doing a better job of keeping up, mainly just because I don't feel like I can afford to take so much time off. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing home our sweet, 4 pound baby girl and worrying about getting her to eat a full ounce each feeding and praying that she would grow. Now, it feels as thoughCharlie is growing at light speed, a fact that is both exciting and scary all at the same time. She gets more and more beautiful each day. She also gets more and more fun. She is such a kick right now. She laughs a lot but her belly laughs are tough to get and are, by far, the most wonderful sound I have ever heard in my entire life. She also smiles all the time. It is the kind of smile that is one day going to get both Will and me into a ton of trouble because I know that we both melt completely when we see it.
Charlie just had a 6 month check up a week or so ago. She weighed in at a healthy 12lbs and 3 oz... nearly 10 pounds heavier than she was when she was born. She is also now 24 1/2 inches long and has made it onto the growth chart for her height! She is in the 10th percentile, but we will take it!
We made it through the holidays and really enjoyed her first Christmas. It was still a little more crazy than I had hoped but it was just about what we had expected seeing as how we had 2 weddings and Christmas to cope with. I will write more about that when I get the pictures onto my computer.
I am back at work now and that is presenting its own set of challenges. Luckily, I can work from home most of the week. I work my usual Sunday morning stuff and then go into the office on Tuesdays (when Charlie's Aunt Lisa watches her... a time I think they both really enjoy and look forward to) and then I go into the office on Thursday afternoons and the girl goes with me. So fa it is working out really well but I think a big part of that has to do with the fact that she is so good. The day I went back to work, I spent the entire evening reading BabyWise to see if I could get her onto some sort of schedule and be able to get more done at home. It was educational and a little stringent for me but it did have a lot of good stuff to say. I feel like I could write a lengthy review and an entire blog entry just on what I feel about various parenting styles right now but I won't get too into that. Essentially, I have just decided to take a little from here and a bit from there to come up with what I feel is a perfect parenting style for US. Charlie is on a good schedule now (she eats every three hours, goes down for a nap after she has been up for about 2 hours and then sleeps for about an hour or so). At night, she now sleeps about 5-7 hours... usually going down just after 9 and then gets up at about 3 or 4 to eat again. Sometimes she sleeps all the way through to 7am but that usually doesn't happen but once a week. We will take it when it comes though!!
What I really can't believe is that it was one year ago today that I told Will that I was pregnant and one year ago yesterday that I got a + pregnancy test and my life changed forever. I often miss being pregnant (particularly because half our church body is expecting right now... you think I am exagerating, right? There are at least 10 people that I know of having babies some time in the next 9 months. It is crazy!) but figuring out if I ever want to do this kind of thing again is a whole 'nother blog post in and of itself. I have much writing and catching up to do!!!
In the meantime, here are a few pictures to keep you happy for now :) Eventually we will catch up!!!

Here are some from the fall... Charlie's first USC game against Washington State (I know, I know... we chanced it and took her to a large group gathering. BUT she didn't get sick!!!!) She went to another one too in November. I think she was all of 5lbs when we went. Now, looking back, I am not surprised so many people looked at us like she was the smallest thing they had ever seen!




And her second game (she didn't sleep nearly as much during this game... it was homecoming, afterall!!)




Here are some pictures from the fall of Charlie after she started smiling (it was quite a game trying to capture her smiles on film... now it is pretty easy. Then, not so much!) These were all taken around the middle of November.





And here are a few pictures from Charlie's first Halloween and first Thanksgiving. We couldn't be more grateful for our little family!!