My First Mother's Day

 

I had such a wonderful first Mother's Day!  Charlotte and I spent the weekend at my parents' house, while WEG went offshore fishing and visited his mom.

 

On Saturday, my dad and I went to the Carolina v. Georgia baseball game.  It was a great game, and a win for the Gamecocks, who swept those Dawgs right back to Athens! I always love to beat UGA in a sport, and at times, I think I might like them even less than Clemson.  Sorry to any Dawg or Tiger fans out there...it's just the way I'm made.

On Sunday we went to church and dedicated Charlotte for her second time. She is one blessed baby, that's for sure. Mama cooked lunch and then Charlotte and I headed back home to see WEG!  I got some pretty earrings and a necklace with Cha's birthstone as gifts from "her" (aka my mom and WEG). I love them both!

It was nice to be in Elloree eating good home cooking and relaxing with my family.  Charlotte is so close to crawling and practiced all weekend. She was such a little ham for the family, especially at meal times, and she LOVES my grandmother.  She just laughs and grins at her.  It's the cutest thing.

I'm so thankful for weekends like this!

Motherhood

As I approach my first Mother's Day, I am overwhelmed with gratefulness that God chose me to be a mother... and not just any mother, Charlotte's mother. Oxford dictionary defines a mother as a woman in relation to a child or children to whom she has given birth. But for me, motherhood is so much more than that. It's looking at Charlotte and being completely filled with love and awe that she is mine.  It's my heart beating outside of my body. It's missing her with ferocity until I see her again. It's knowing that I am responsible for teaching her all of the good traits I want her to possess. It's being constantly amazed at each new thing she does. It's the tears that fall when I rock her to sleep and thank God for my blessings. It's the need to protect her from all that's bad in this world. It's the transformation that happened the moment I held her in my arms for the first time.

Motherhood is all of those things and more.  I could go on for days. Being a mother has made me realize what enormous sacrifices my own mom made for me and the depth of her love. I've always known, but until I was a mother, it did not hit home quite like it has since November 3rd. I am so thankful for my mama and all she does for me, and I could not ask for a better MeMa for my sweet girl.

So, on Mother's Day I'll be doubly thankful. For God's hand in making me a mother and for the mother He has given me.

Happy Mother's Day, y'all!

 

My sweet girl and me and Muffins with Mom at daycare this morning.

On gender confusion...

I'm going to stand up on my soap box for a moment because there is something that really makes me annoyed.

This morning at the doctor, Charlotte was dressed in a pink smocked outfit with a pink bib.  A lady looked right at her, looked at me, and said "How old is HE?"  HE?!  Seriously, lady?!  Since when do mothers dress their little boys in pink?  I answered, "SHE is 6 months old."  And, instead of letting it go, she said "Oh, she..."  And then, if that wasn't bad enough, her husband came in and he said "Wide awake!" when he looked at Charlotte, and I hear the lady whisper to him "It's a she" as if he would not know either.  Or maybe she just thought her husband was as ignorant as her when it comes to looking at a child wearing pink and still not guessing the correct gender.

Here's what Charlotte looked like this morning:

Now, I know, babies can sometimes look gender neutral until they get a little hair, but when a baby is dressed in head to toe pink, I would think that would be a dead give-away.

Okay, stepping down from my soap box.

Six months already?!

Charlotte Ruth,
You are six months old today!  It's hard to believe it was six months ago when we were anticipating your arrival.  It doesn't feel that long ago.  Too quote the old cliche, time flies when you're having fun.

 

You are such a blessing to us each and every day.  You are learning new things and constantly amaze mommy and daddy, and your teachers at daycare, with how much you are progressing.  Your little personality is developing, and it includes a streak of stubborness....I can't imagine where you got that.  Oh wait, yes I can...in fact, you probably got a double dose of it.  But besides being a little stubborn, you are just so sweet.  You don't seem to meet a stranger.

Currently, you have yet another ear infection.  It's affecting your eating which stresses mommy out a little, but you seem to be doing fine otherwise.  A little fussy at times, but still so sweet.  Last night, you slept from 7:30 until 7:15.  Wow, sweet girl!  That makes your mommy and daddy very happy.

During your six month, you have learned to sit (quite well, actually!), eat a variety of foods, and we are working on the sippy cup.  You are starting to get the hang of it.

You love it when daddy blows in your face and you will giggle and give him the sweetest little smile.  It melts our hearts.  Your laugh is just so cute, and I will do anything I can to hear it.

 

I had no idea six months ago the love I was going to feel, and it just grows and grows with each new day, as each day brings something new. 

So happy six months, butterbean!  We love you!

Yummm....food!

My child is an eater.  She absolutely loves food, and her teachers at daycare think it's so fun to feed her because she literally attacks the spoon.  When I am feeding her in the evenings and I do not reload fast enough, she opens her mouth wide and lunges forward.  If she could talk, I'm pretty sure she would say "hurry up, Mama!"  I guess it should come as no surprise that she likes food given the fact that I am her mother, and I absolutely love to eat.

So far, she has eaten and enjoyed zucchini, sweet potatoes, carrots, applesauce, pears, peaches, apples & bananas & strawberries (a mixture), and we just re-tried avocado last night.  Our first go-round with avocado was a failure, but mixed with a little oatmeal last night, she seemed to like it.  Her favorites are zucchini and sweet potatoes and the fruits. 

 

We are buying the Gerber fruits, but I am making her vegetables.  It's been quite an easy process.  I steam/bake the food then puree it in the food processor.  Once it's a good consistency, I spoon the puree into ice trays and freeze.  Once frozen I bag it.  This makes it super easy to travel, as well as do at home.  I just take out two ice cubes for dinner and thaw them in the microwave for about 45 seconds.  The zucchini is watery, so I thicken it with a little oatmeal. 

Next on our list of veggies to try are green peas and yellow squash.  I know we started the whole solid foods thing a little earlier than the recommended six months, but Charlotte went through a phase where it was a major struggle to get her to drink her milk, and my instincts told me that she needed nutrition in some form, so we started sending her lunch to daycare in addition to the oatmeal she was eating morning and night.  Then we transitioned from oatmeal at night to a vegetable.  It's worked for us, but I am by no means saying that it is right for everyone! 

 

At almost six months, Charlotte is eating oatmeal for breakfast, a fruit for lunch, and two cubes of veggies for dinner.  She is back to taking her bottle better, so she usually eats around 25-30 ounces of milk per day.

Are there any veggies that your children absolutely loved that I should try?

In other news, last week were Charlotte's school pictures.  I was quite skeptical because I thought for sure there was no way they could get an almost six month old to cooperate.  Boy, was I pleasantly surprised.  Below are the proofs.  Sorry for the bad quality, but I took a picture of the sheet they were printed on!

A weekend at the coast

This past weekend we went to Yonges Island to help Grandaddy celebrate his birthday.  Unfortunately, when I took out my camera to take some pictures, I quickly realized that the SD card was still sitting on my coffee table.  DOH!  So, all I have are not-so-great iPhone photos.  And not a single one of the birthday boy!

In any case, we had a great time celebrating Grandaddy, and catching up with family and friends.  Charlotte got to spend quality time with her cousin, Lily.  I know at some point Charlotte will probably be the little cousin that annoys Lily, but right now they are so cute together.

Here are the pictures that I have!

Watching TV and playing with my bee.

 

Cousin Lily and Charlotte

 

Sweet cousins

 

Gazing up at Grandmama

 

My new sunglasses!

 

Did not want to get up this morning.  This was after I gave her her breathing treatment- still asleep!  The sign of a good weekend!

Charlotte's dedication

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

 

Yesterday we dedicated Charlotte at our church, Riverland Hills Baptist.  As Baptists, we believe in dedicating a baby to the Lord to show the parents' commitment to raising her in a Christian household with strong Christian beliefs and morals.  Baptists believe that a person is not saved until he or she makes the decision on his own and is baptized by immersion.  Just a little background if you were not familiar as to why we did not christen or baptize her.

 

 

We had so many family members join us to celebrate the day, and following church, we had brunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Alodia's.  It was a good time with family celebrating our sweet girl and our promise to raise her to know and love Jesus.

 

What an important task we have been given.  It still amazes me that God gave her to us.  After all, Charlotte is His.  He created her, and trusted WEG and me enough to give us that enormous blessing of being her parents.  Out of everyone in the world, He chose us especially for her.  This is what I remind myself when the days come that make me feel like I am failing and I am not doing things right.  That I'm not the perfect mother.  Truth is, I'm not the perfect mother...who is?  But, I'm the perfect mother for Charlotte, and God thought so, too, or else He would not have entrusted His child to me.  So every day, I'll remember the promises we made at Charlotte's dedication and strive to be the Christian example that my daughter needs.  When she sees me, I want her to see Jesus in me.  It's the most important job I have.

 

 

 

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9