August 12, 2005

Well, I'm a little slow on the up-take. That, and we didn't have the internet until Thursday night and I'm slightly sleep-deprived.

But, I wanted to post some pics and give a shout-out to Chad since we got married 4 years ago Wednesday, August 12th (a long, hot, and great day)!

It was SO hot! Grandpa got mad he had to put his coat back on for pics. And Clay breathed his hot breath on my back. Nice.

(If you click on the picture and enlarge it, you'll notice my scary muppet eyes-- I couldn't find another good group shot-- and the angry look on the kids' faces. Really, they were very hot-- dripping sweat.)

I smashed the cake in his face. Then he blew a snot rocket on me. Very classy!

Getting dressed before the Lynchburg reception. I think Chad overdid it a little.

Seriously, I don't think I've ever been so hot. And my jaw hurt from smiling so much. Guess I should practice smiling every day, huh?! :) We got stuck in traffic on the way home (DC traffic for hours). We had a lunch at Maggiano's, a reception at my parent's house, and then stayed the night at The Jefferson Hotel in downtown Richmond-- in the nicest room I've ever stayed in!




We then drove to Myrtle Beach, SC for a week-long honeymoon. Then we drove back to VA to have a reception in Lynchburg. Two days later, we drove to Wisconsin. And we've been here ever since!

I love you, Chad.
It's been the craziest and greatest 4 years of my life!

Pics... finally

It rained a lot last weekend. Chad made some paper boats and he and Cameron raced them outside in the gutter. It was pretty cute. Cameron wanted to do it again when the boats reached the drain, but they were a little disintegrated. Maybe next time.

Finally connected

It's weird. You come to rely on something every day. And then it's gone. What do you do with your time?

Well, the first few days without the internet were kind of hard... like going through withdrawal. But then I started to get used to not reading emails or knowing what was going on with anyone out there.

Now that I have it back, however, it feels so good! Guess it would be this way if I decided to stop eating chocolate for a few weeks and then finally had a chocolate chip cookie.

Mmmmmm...

Anyway, I'll work on getting some more pics loaded. Patience people. I'm not the most jovial person when I get 4 hours of sleep a night.

Still alive

We just got the internet, but it won't be hooked up until Thursday. So, stay tuned for some pics.

Otherwise, we're surviving. My sister, Katie, was here for 10 days and just left this morning. She was such a big help at taking a night shift with the baby, playing with Cameron, making meals, and doing dishes. It was so great to have her here... thanks so much, Katie!!

Charlotte is doing well... we're still working on sleeping and eating at regular times (really, what is "regular" to a 3-week-old?). Cameron is adjusting... semi-well. Some days are good, some are bad. He's still nice to the baby. Not always so nice to the rest of us. The kids have been in the same room and Cameron wakes up every time Charlotte does. And sometimes even more. Now that Katie's gone and not sleeping in the living room, I think we'll put Charlotte in there tonight and see how it goes. Hopefully a good night's sleep is most of what Cameron needs to be a normal, sweet kid again!

I keep waiting for the 6-week mark. I love this little girl more than anything. I really feel like I've bonded with her and I'm finding that waking up at night isn't as annoying as it was with Cameron (except when she wants to party at 2). But, I really did block out this part of Cameron's life. Did we wake him every few hours during the day when he was this little? Or did we let him sleep until he needed to wake up and eat? I really have no idea. So in a way, I feel like I'm doing this for the first time. I feel a little more confident in my abilities as a mom (and I'm not as freaked out about my role as a mom), but the techniques I'm trying seem all new. So that's why I've got the 6 weeks date marked on my calendar. I sure hope I'm not setting myself up for disappointment by thinking it will all be magical after that... I think I'm a little more realistic than that. But I know things change quite a bit after that time. Babies start sleeping for longer stretches (and usually at night), they're more alert and start to smile... things that will make it seem worth all the hard weeks before.

Anyway, that's what's been going on. It'll be exciting to go back to church next Sunday (after Char is over 4 weeks old) and get out into the world again. And it'll be nice when Cameron starts sleeping (and allows us to sleep) more.

I'll post more later.

No internet

Well, you might have thought that my lack of posts was due to sleep deprivation, extreme moodiness, recovery from delivery, or not enough pictures (yeah right). But really, we lost the internet last Wed. when our neighbors moved out-- we were sharing the internet with them. Our new neighbors move in this Sat., and we're doing the same thing with them-- sharing the cost of the internet. They got it hooked up on Sat. night, but our router isn't working for some reason. So I'm currently sitting in their empty apt. on my mom's work computer. Since she will be leaving tonight (it's been such a huge help having my mom and dad here, thanks you guys!), I probably won't post again until next week.

Not that there's been anything too exciting to report. We're trying to get Charlotte on some type of sleep schedule so we can all sleep better through the night. So far.... so... iffy. I don't know. Some times I think it's working. And then it all goes to crap. So maybe I'll just go with the flow for a while, although the book they send you home with (from the hospital) says to wake the baby during the day every three hours to eat and be up for a little while. Sometimes this is easier said than done. I think Charlotte doesn't have her days and nights mixed up anymore... we're not up with her for hours at night, but we're still up a bit... which I know is to be expected.

I'm pretty sure I blocked this part of Cameron's life out. Honestly, I don't remember much of what happened the summer of 2007 (he was born May 5). I think I remember August, when we went home for vacation. Otherwise, it's a blur. I do remember, however, the feeling of relief when he started sleeping through the night and got on a good nap schedule and I was able to exercise and lose weight. Ah, that was nice. And I'm looking forward to those days again, although I'll have a toddler to entertain at the same time.

Ok. So I'm off to take a nap. I'll be back next week. And by the way, my sister comes tomorrow! Yipee!

And yet even more pics...

I made some little headbands about a month ago. They're a bit big (and so are the flowers), but we thought we would do a fashion show this morning while Charlotte was snoozing.

I think Cameron wanted to have something on his head, too.

My mom bought some ears of corn the other night. Cameron loved it!

And so did Chad!

First trip to the doctor...