Callie took it upon herself to test out Macie's carseat. She was happy to make sure it was snuggly and the buckles still work. She was so comfortable that she watched Wonder Pets in it, despite the fact that she was spilling out of it.
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| Testing out the buckles |
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| What a difference a year makes! |
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| Cozy in little sister's seat |
I have been terrible about posting about my pregnancy this time. Maybe because I feel like I just did it! :) Never the less, I have had some requests for belly pictures so here are a few of me at almost 38 weeks. I am feeling pretty good now. Well, as good as you can feel when you're carrying around a big medicine ball in your belly! :) Macie is very active and is constantly deforming my stomach. Her favorite pasttime is to push her foot as far out of my side as possible or to stretch her entire body out. I never get tired of feeling her move...well, except when it's painful. I'm still having a hard time believing that I will be holding this precious, active little girl in my arms in just a few weeks (or sooner, but please, Macie, wait for Daddy!).
Here are the requested belly pictures:
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| Mommy and Big Sister |
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| I had to tickle a little to get a smile. |
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| We were trying to get a kissing picture, but it wasn't quite working out. |
This year our holidays are going to be a little different than normal, starting with Thanksgiving. All of our things arrived to Charlie's Paw Paw's house in Bryan the Friday before Thanksgiving so I was there to receive it all. Grandma Susie kept Callie in The Woodlands which was a huge help and a blessing.
My mom came up on Wednesday to help unpack and organize the house. I was planning on meeting her there with Callie, but Mike offered to keep her. She stayed with them until Friday when we picked her up from the farm. She had a blast with all of the family! When I picked her up, she seemed so big, and it had only been 2 days.
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| She just can't have too many bracelets! |
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| She can walk surprisingly well in these heels... |
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| And she can totally sport the Sketchers. Unfortunately, mine don't light up so there not quite as awesome as all the cool kids these days. |
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| If you're wondering, this was right after a diaper change. |
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| T-R-O-U-B-L-E Get ready, Daddy! You're about to have another one, too! :) |
A few weeks ago I was reading a book, and Callie came up behind me, pointed to some of the letters in the author's name, and said them...correctly. I was blown away! Just to be sure I wasn't crazy, I pointed to the letters myself, and she did it again. I then got a piece of paper and pen and wrote a few more to really see how many she knew. I have to say I was pretty impressed.
She loves to draw on paper, and I usually test her on different letters while she is drawing. Over the last few weeks, she has been able to tell me the majority of the letters. It's crazy! Yesterday she named all the letters in "umbrellas" without 1 mistake. I know I'm totally bragging, but I also need to record this b/c I don't think I would even believe myself if I said she knew some letters at 18 1/2 months and most at 19 months, years down the road.
Unfortunately, I have to give the credit to her favorite show, "Super Why." I'm sure most of you know exactly what I'm talking about ;), but if you haven't heard of it, it is a show on PBS that teaches the alphabet and reading. I don't really see the appeal of it, but she loves "Why!"
The following video was taken a week or two ago:
I only have a few more months to train Callie (J/K), but apparently, I don't even have to try. This morning I changed her wet diaper in the living room, and when I got up to go get her some milk, she grabbed the diaper, carried it down the hall, saying, "Yuck! Yuck! (Ndut! Ndut!)" all the way. She came back to the living room without the diaper so I had to go see where she had put it. I went into her room to find it, but I couldn't. I looked in the diaper genie, and there it was! It seems like she is doing more and more things like this that surprise me. My little girl is growing up!
Charlie and I need help choosing a name for our new baby girl!
With Callie, we had a name chosen even before we knew she was a girl, but this time it has been a little harder. Of course, we were able to agree on a boy name but not a girl name before Charlie left. Since then, we have been able to narrow it down to two names that we both like a lot. The problem is I like one name a little more and Charlie likes the other name a little more. Although I'm not a huge fan of asking other people's opinions about baby names (solely for fact that usually you hear negative comments along with the positive), we have decided that this is the best way to finalize the name.
Our two choices are Macie and Meredith. Please leave your opinion in the comments, if you have one...a positive one. :) If you don't care for either, please refrain from saying so because most likely one of these names will be our daughter's. We are set on the spellings, and don't plan on having a nickname for either. We're hoping y'all can help us make our decision!
Another thing worth mentioning is that her middle name will probably be Jane in honor of Charlie's paternal grandmother. Callie's middle name, Dianne, is in honor of my mom, and we wanted to honor someone in Charlie's family by sharing a middle name. We like how both Macie Jane and Meredith Jane sound. Please help!! :)
It has been a while since I have blogged about what is going on in our life, and since then there have been some major changes. Fortunately, all the changes are good and huge blessings for our family.
As most of you know, the end of this year/beginning of next will bring three significant events for us. The first of course will be Charlie's homecoming. I am waiting very impatiently for December to come around! Charlie has had and will continue to have some amazing experiences on his deployment, and Callie and I have really enjoyed being in Texas with family and friends while he is gone. It's still not the same as having my best friend, husband, and Callie's Daddy, though so we are counting down the days (not literally but you get my point). I know it would have been a completely different (and harder) deployment for me had I stayed in CA. Not only has it been great having all the help and support, but Callie has gotten to know her extended family well. I know many people think I'm crazy, but I honestly can't get enough time with our families. We are truly blessed!
The second major event is going to be the birth of our second daughter (Yep, I said daughter!!!!) We are so excited for Callie to have a little sister, who remains nameless at this point. There is a very good chance that Charlie will make it here in time for the birth so we are really hoping for that! If not, I am prepared to have my mom, sister, best friend, or possibly all three to help me through the delivery. I started to feel Baby Girl move around a couple weeks ago, and it's just the most amazing, reassuring feeling when it comes to pregnancy. I have seen a couple ultrasounds already (She didn't cooperate in the first.), and she is a very active little girl! Technology is crazy these days, and we already saw her beautiful little face on 4D at only 18 1/2 weeks! I will post her picture as soon as I can scan it into my computer. I think Callie may have a little twin, but who can really tell so early?!? We'll see! I am 19 weeks now and feeling a lot better. Next week, I will be half way there! This pregnancy has seemed to go a lot faster than last time.
The last big change in our life will be the move to College Station! We are beyond thrilled and still a little in shock that Charlie was chosen for this position as an officer recruiter. The CS OSO (Officer Selection Officer, Charlie's official title) is a highly desired position, and I am so proud that Charlie was selected. As a boasting wife, it says a lot about Charlie and what a great Marine officer and leader he is! Not only is it going to being awesome to be back in CS (where Charlie and I fell in love, cheese I know!), but we will also be very close to our families. Relative to where we could have ended up, the 7 hour drive to Harlingen doesn't even seem too bad, and Houston and Huntsville are just a blink of the eye away! :) We are so excited to be back in Texas so quickly and while Charlie was still in the Marines. Thank you, Jesus, for all these blessings! We are definitely not taking them for granted!
It's hard to believe this first video is only from a couple months ago. She already looks so much older, and I think her hair has grown an inch! She doesn't do this face anymore so it just makes me realize how fast she is changing and how important it is to document!!
While we were at the Horton's new house, helping them get settled, I mostly kept an eye on the kiddos in the playroom, due to my current state :) and not feeling the best. One day, Callie's legs and arms were cold, and my mom said when her students are cold she has them get up and do jumping jacks so Cade and Bailey showed Callie how to do them. She picked it right up, flapping her arms and walking around, although in the video she stayed in one spot! It was too cute! (This video was taken at my parents' the next week.)
No, Callie does not stay in her pajamas ALL day but usually until her nap. :)
Charlie has been missing his baby girl, and this video was too big to email so everyone gets to see this sweet girl.
Charlie, we miss you so much and are so proud of you!
I know. I know. I have been a terrible blogger, and I'm not even going to make excuses. I'm just going to try to be better!
Lots has been going on since I last blogged, including Callie turning 15 months! Yesterday, in fact. She has changed so much in the last few months since her one year update. She is now a walking, talking, climbing toddler! She is such a sweet girl who loves to laugh and make people laugh. (Wonder where she gets that from??) She has also been such a trooper in our nomad lifestyle. In our two months in Texas, we have been to Houston/Huntsville and to Harlingen again 3 times, and she always adjusts well. In the last week alone, we stayed at 4 different houses! I'm sad Charlie has to miss this stage in her life, but she knows and loves her Daddy. His pictures get kisses regularly.
At 15 months, Callie:
-is walking very well and running too...at least when I say it's time to change her diaper. She finds this hilarious.
-climbs on anything she can, although she is pretty cautious, which I'm very happy about.
-has 6 teeth, and I think she is working on some more.
-sings when I sing her a song before putting her in bed. It's in her own language but precious, none the less.
-is saying many words and understanding even more. She is trying new words all the time. Some of the words she says often include:
*Mama
*Daddy
*Grandma (Mamma)
*Grammy (Mammy)
*Grandpa/Paw Paw/Pappa (Papa) (It sounds the same when she says all three.)
*Baby (She says this word very clearly.)
*Banana (Nana)
*No (The sweetest "no" I've ever heard, if you can believe it.)
*Yes (Ice) (usually repeated at least 3 times)
*Hi (Hiiiii)
*Bye-bye
*Yuck (mndut) (She usually says this referring to a dirty diaper.)
*Milk (Mill)
*Ball (Ba)
*Booger (Boober, pronounced like booger but with a "b") (This is the name of Mike and Susan's cat, named by Susan's niece and nephew. Callie loves him!)
-does several animal sounds including mooing, barking, snorts like a pig, and scrunches her nose like a bunny.
-is still taking two naps a day. Praise the Lord for this pregnant mama! :) She stopped for a few weeks right after her 1st birthday, but when she started walking, she went back to two. Walking is tiring! :)
-is enjoying being so close to all her cousins. She loves for them to play peek-a-boo and read to her.
-loves giving kisses. They are big and slobbery, and I love them!
Callie is growing so fast and changing so quickly. I guess it's a good thing since she's got a brother or sister on the way! I am cherishing every moment we have together, and I know her Daddy misses her like crazy. We are so proud of him and can't wait for him to come home to us!
We decided it would be fun to wait and tell our parents about the baby in person, and I'm so glad we did. These videos and the reactions are priceless!
Telling my mom:
Telling my dad:
Telling the Johnson Family:
The funny part about this video is when Travis said, "My flooring guy told me!" Well, of course I had to get to the bottom of this and called Kristi to see how that happened. She said she had only talked to the flooring guy a few hours before we had the get together. While talking to him, he heard Maddie and asked about her. She told him she was a newborn and that Travis had a new one too. He didn't know about Claire so Kristi rightly assumed that they didn't talk often. Kristi went on to tell him that we are having a baby boom in our family and that I was pregnant. Travis so happened to call him to tell him Kristi would be calling, and he congratulated him on Claire and said, "I hear your other sister is pregnant." Travis said that that was news to him! I just thought that was the funniest story and had to explain it!
Telling Mike and Susan:
Telling Virginia and Champe:
As of Saturday, May 15th, Callie is offically a walker! For the last several weeks, she has been taking 5 or 6 steps between Charlie and I but had not really taken off. While we were at Grammy and Pappa's, on the 10th, she took her first steps on her own, walking between the couch and coffee table. She is very cautious and just didn't want to let go. She was happy cruisin' and holding a finger to walk. She had gotten to the point that she didn't want to crawl but wanted to hold a finger to walk. Needless to say, I was ready for her to walk! I took this video a couple days ago, and she is walking really well!
I introduced the airplane to Callie so she would eat a few more green beans. Like all babies, she loved the plane, but when she tried to mimic me, she sounded like her engine was having problems. It was too funny!
Today Callie and I went over to my friend, Natalie's. She has four cute boys, 10 yr. old twins, a 6 year old, and a 3 year old. Callie is always entertained by them, and today, the youngest, Joey, was the entertainer. The boys were eating dinner, and Callie and I were sitting across from Joey. He started opening and closing his hands and saying, "beep...beep...beep..." which got old really fast for everyone else, but Callie thought it was hilarious! When he stopped, she did the "more" sign to him, which is why I'm telling this story. This is the first time Callie has used the sign, other than referring to food. It was so cute, and I love seeing her interact with other kids. We're going to miss Natalie and her family, but I'm exciting for Callie to be near her cousins for the rest of this year. She's going to love it!
I'd thought I'd share a few short videos of what Callie has been up to these days. The first one she is playing peekaboo. I love the noises she makes while playing. It's like she quietly says, "Where's Callie?" then a little louder "Boo!" and pops to the side.
****Warning: Ignore my annoying voice on all the videos!!****
Here she is trying to put a shirt on. She is determined!
In the last video, she is looking at a picture of a lion in my magazine. She has the cutest little roar!
