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. :)

Happy Easter

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

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!