Friday, April 10, 2015

Charlie is such a lady.

This made me laugh so hard, I almost pee my pants. Whats more disgusting.... Charlie forcing farts and almost crapping her pants or Maggie our dog giving her a french kiss?



Kids say the darndest things! 

And some day Charlie will probably want to physically hurt me for posting this. :)

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Happy Easter


Took a couple of tries. This is as good as it gets. All my babies! Happy Easter.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Random Charlie Videos

Recently I came across a bunch of videos that I made when Charlie was a baby/toddler. I loved watching them so much, that I made a promise to myself to take more videos. Well, now my phone is telling me that I am out of space! So its time to get these random videos off my phone and onto my computer. Here are some of my favs.

This first video is an excellent example of how my daughter has transformed into the biggest drama queen. Apparently her name is too long. ;)

Next up is Charlie preforming her favorite song- Let It Go. Sorry its a bit dark.
 More musical talents.


Last week we went ice skating and met Anna & Elsa. Here is a clip from a sing-a-long they had. Again, notice my daughter in the end who must be the center of attention.

So occasionally, Charlotte walks/talks in her sleep. This clips was right after I found her sleep walking, trying to climb into the bath tub. Most of the time she is speaking a different language so I have no idea what she is dreaming about. Notice her trying to open the faux drawer.

This one will probably always be a favorite. Good thing we moved to a new house with 3 bathrooms.
More to come.

And then there were 4....

If I could describe the past few weeks with one word, it would probably be- "adjusting". I wish I could use- "blissful" or something equally happy. But the fact is, we are still adjusting. Adjusting as a family of 4. Adjusting to living in Wentzville. Adjusting to lack of sleep. Etc. And Charlotte's biggest adjustment- not being the only child/center of attention.

Throughout the day we hear:

"will you play with me?" (x100!!!!)... which then goes to "nobody wants to play with me!" followed by her storming to her bedroom and slamming the door. Sometimes it goes as far as "nobody loves me!" and I even heard "you don't want me anymore".

Heartbreaking, I know. But don't by into it. Chuck and I play with Charlie ALL DAY LONG. It doesn't help that (1) it is FREEZING cold outside and (2) she happens to be the BIGGEST ball of energy ever created. Seriously? Why cant I have one of those "chill" kids that likes to just sit quietly and watch tv/play games by themselves? (don't worry Charlotte- I still love your crazy ass!)

Regardless, we make do with indoor activities. And we each try to take her out on Mommy/Daughter and Daddy/Daughter dates each week. Even if it is just a trip to the store and out to lunch. Within the past few weeks we have been to myseum, ice skating, Chuckie Cheeses (just hours before that crazy shooting!) bowling, and the Soulard dog parade. Not to mention the billions of trips to the park when the weather is nice enough. And she thinks she is so neglected...sheesh. Here are a few videos. Sorry for all the slow-mo clips. I'm  mildly obsessed with the funny sound effects.


 Other than Charlie fighting for attention and acting like a complete drama-queen, things have been going well. Charlie has been extremely helpful in her role as "big sister".  She enjoys holding her brother, fetching his Binky, rocking him to sleep, and filling in as photographer when needed.

Speaking of Frankie. He is now almost 6 weeks old!! Here are the 1 month photos that Charlie helped me with.

And speaking of 6 weeks....that means our next big adjustment... me returning to work next week. Waaa!


Franklin Terry Dickens

Meet Franklin Terry Dickens. 
Born January 16th at 5:05 am. 
8 lbs 2 oz., 21 1/2 inches.








 
My original due date was 1/29/15, however with lots of begging and pleading, the doctor agreed to induce early. Just like with my first pregnancy, I struggled the entire time keeping my platelets up. The goal was to get my count above 100k so that I would have the option of an epidural.

On 1/15, after 3 infusions within 2 weeks, my platelets were at 107k. Bingo! "Come on Doc, lets do this! Don't make me wait any longer. Especially since my platelets are so unpredictable." So he sent me home to get my bags and we arrived that night at the hospital. Here is the last photo as a family of 3!
The induction started at 10pm. I was pain free up until about 3am, when I ordered the epidural. It took about an hour to get the anesthesiologist. That was a very painful hour, but afterward I was on cloud nine. No feelings from the hips down. Ahh! At 4:30 they broke my water. Shortly after, they refilled me with water due to the babies blood pressure. At 5:00 am, the nurse told me to push. Then immediately told me NOT to push. The baby was coming and she needed the doctor! In comes doctor. 2 pushes later, comes baby. Easy peasy, and sooo different from my first delivery. *Almost* has me thinking about a baby number 3.
So onto the name. We really struggled with this part. Chuck and I just could not agree on a name. We had it narrowed down to: Matthew (Mattie), Micheal (Mikey), and Franklin (Frankie). For a good part of that morning we tried out Mattie, but just couldn't commit. It wasn't until that afternoon, when my Mom and Jes showed up and started pressuring us to pick a name so that we could make an announcement, that we decided on Franklin (after Chuck's Gpa) Terry (after my Dad).

Welcome to the family Frankie!



Sunday, December 14, 2014

City Slickers to County Hillbillies

Wow. A lot has changed since my last post! ....

 For starters. We no longer live here:


We put our house up for sale mid October. Two weeks later we received a full price offer, with a closing date 30 days away. Man were we ecstatic! But I will tell you what. NEVER again do I want to sell a house. Especially while pregnant. UGH! That was the most stressful 30 days of my  life. Not too mention, perfect timing for our furnace to go out! I hope the new homeowner enjoys that expensive hunk of metal we installed. (plus a/c, stove, new electric panel, roof repairs, and closing cost! grr.) Luckily, we were able to get the buyer to come up on the price to make up for the expensive and unexpected repairs.

So now we live 40 minutes west, in the good ol' town of Wentzville. In the exact same house that I grew up in!!:


We have traded in the sounds of gun shots and barking dogs, for the peaceful sounds of the suburbs and a distant train. Don't get me wrong. I will miss the city.  A LOT. We had one hell of a good time in our old house. But we needed something bigger, and safer to raise children. So here we are.

Here are the things I am missing the most:
1. Our city friends- obvi! Charlie REALLY misses her school friends- Elyn and Abigail. The other day she packed a "suitcase" and said she was moving back to the city to see her friends :(
2. My short commute. 20 minutes has now become 40-60 minutes. Boo!
3. My very deep, very comfortable, steel bath tub. Oh how I miss thee.
4. The convenience of being extremely close to the: zoo, botanical gardens, science center, city museum, any/all sporting events, etc.
5. My dang chalk board door! Where am I going to put Chuck's "Honey Do" list now?

But on the other side I am enjoying:
1. My new master bath for my many nightly pee trips. No more wobbling my fat butt down narrow stairs several times a night.
2. No stairs while bringing in groceries. (can you tell I really despise stairs at the moment?!)
3. Being able to leave my house at night without the fear of being robbed.
4. No worries about the South Grand protesters and helicopters hovering above our house. 
5. Watching Charlie do the exact same things, in the exact same places, that I did growing up. For example, it was a bit sentimental watching her ride her bike in the neighbors driveway yesterday- the exact place I learned how to ride without training wheels!

One last thing I want to share. The first day we met with our realtor, she gave us homework: write a letter to the new homeowner. So here it is!

To the future homeowner of 2330 Arkansas:

This home has been our "baby" for the past 6 years. Lots of blood, sweat, and tears have gone into the house that it has become today. Seven years ago, my husband and I graduated college, got married, and began our house search. We knew we wanted to be near Tower Grove Park, but fresh out of school our budget was on the low end which limited our options.  Luck came our way, when we met the previous owner of the home- Josepha.  She was elderly and could no longer keep up with the home and needed to move to an assisted living facility.  After viewing the home with my husband, he became very nervous about the massive amounts of wallpaper, textured ceilings, blue 80's carpet, and colorful paint choices. I on the other hand become excited about the potential the home could offer- thank you HGTV!

Thirty days later, we closed on our home, helped Josepha move into her new home, and began our renovation. First, the blue carpet was pulled to reveal beautiful wood floors that just needed a little sanding and stain. A total of 7 different patterned wallpaper was carefully peeled off the walls. Inch-by-inch of the ceiling was scraped to remove the old texture. And for several years we have slowly rejuvenated our home, one room at a time.

For awhile, the two of us felt lonely.  Most of our friends lived in the County, while we choose City Life.  But since then our friends have also grown fond of our neighborhood, and the conveniences the City offers, and have since joined us.  For several years, we played kickball in Tower Grove Park, entertained in our back yard, walked to nearby bars/restaurants, and carpooled to sporting events. Go Cardinals!!

Four years ago, we welcomed a baby girl into our family.  And today we are expecting a baby boy to arrive early 2015.  With our growing family, we need to expand into a larger home.  We would love nothing more than to stay in our current home, but we have decided to move our family into the home that I grew up in and to continue to build on my past family memories and traditions.

We will greatly miss this home.  As recent graduates, expanding in our careers. As newly weds, continuing to build our love for one another. As first time home buyers, learning the basics of home renovation. As first time parents, watching our daughter take her first steps in this very living room. And now we hope that you will make as many memories here, as we have.

Cory & Chuck Dickens

Here are some flash back photos...







 And then the very lovely pictures from our realtor:







Farewell Arkansas house!!

Monday, August 25, 2014

It's a ....


(I was going to crop out the beginning, but Charlie is too funny with her "lets go"!) 


As you can see, Charlie is not happy with the news.... Chuck on the other hand, is thrilled.  And my intuition/motherly instinct was right!




And after all this fun news....
We get a stinkin' flat tire on a 100 degree day. Boo!!