Maybe that should be Goose See, Goose Do. Lottie is in a mimicking stage, which is actually a lot of fun. It is crazy how quickly she can pick things up. We have a couple of fun videos of what Lottie is learning.
Lottie has a thing about straws. She still doesn't know how to drink from one, but she loves chewing on them. Since I use straws all the time, she has figured out how to steal the straw from me and put it in her mouth. It is pretty neat to watch her increasing dexterity.
The other day Chris taught Lottie how to make noises with her mouth. We just happened to film it. I think she looks and acts so old in this one. The goose is definitely growing up.
Chris' sister Elizabeth and her hubs Aaron are the proud parents of a precious little girl, Claire Evelyn. She arrived Wednesday at 4:04 pm. She weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great, and we are so excited Lottie's little girl cousin is here!
As I sit writing this post on the front porch of the
Aero-Bee Ranch enjoying the 78 degree weather and listening to the breeze
rustle the trees, I can’t help but feel at peace. It is so quiet here with no
road sounds or city noise.
It is incredibly
beautiful here at my favorite place on Earth. Don’t get me wrong, upstate South
Carolina is gorgeous and probably prettier by most people’s standards than
Texas Hill Country, but Texas Hill Country has something special to me that no
place ever could or will have.
It is so good to be home.
It has been 9.5 months since we were last in Texas, and 16.5
months since we were last at the ranch. This week has been amazing already. We
have loved every moment of introducing Lottie to our friends and family here in
Texas and soaking up time with them as well.
Chris wrapped up block 5 on Friday, and we flew out Saturday
afternoon. I planned Lottie’s entire schedule around our 145 pm flight. My plan
was to give her a bottle after we boarded, so she would be eating while we took
off (sucking is supposed to help them clear their ears), and we skipped her
second nap, so she would fall asleep after eating. And sure enough, she got
hungry at 145 pm and fell asleep right after the bottle; however, our flight
was delayed 40 minutes, so my brilliant beyond brilliant mommy planning was for
naught. She did wonderfully though.
Napping
Trying to entertain the baby in tight quarters
Our first order of business on Saturday was eating Tex-Mex
with Gran, Papa, Uncle Chuck, Leena, Brian, Sarah, Dad, & Mom. Oh glorious
Tex-Mex! It was incredible finally introducing my grandparents and uncle to
Lottie.
Sunday, I hosted a baby shower for Sarah with 3 other
wonderful ladies. We used her nursery theme of navy, red, white, & planes.
I think it came off very well. I love doing being able to do things like this
for a sister. God blessed me with an amazing SIL. I can’t wait to meet precious
baby Luke!
I was in charge of the diaper cake. I kinda of winged it (pun intended), and I think it turned out pretty good.
*punch pic
Meeting Great Grandma Atteberry or Great Mimi if you will
On Monday, we had lunch with family friends and then
attended a party Gran and Papa hosted, so our oldest (in length of time, not
age) family friends, the Rossy’s, could meet Charlotte. Lottie also got to meet
Aunt Karen.
4 generations of women :)
Aunt K & Lottie
Uncle Chuck & Lottie (this is fairly standard for him haha)
Tuesday, Charlotte and I went with my mom to her weekly
coffee gathering, so she could share her grandbaby with them. Then, we took
Lottie to Dad’s office, so he could enjoy showing her off. She was a little
charmer at both as usual. After lunch at James Coney Island (a Houston
treasure), Chris and I went to Bass Pro Shop, so he could spend his birthday
money, which was burning a hole in his pocket. My mom sweetly took Lottie home
for a nap. We may have over planned the poor thing a little. She hung in there
gallantly, but at this pace, I could sense a meltdown brimming on the horizon.
For dinner, we met up with the Noworatzky’s at Ruggles-City Centre. We were so
excited to introduce our little girls to their future bff. They hit it off
right away, of course.
It was great seeing Hattie & Josh and seeing a preview
of what the next year would bring (Elli is 20 months old).
Notice how the little girls just ignore whatever madness
their fathers are doing
After all the crazy, non-stop activity, we left
for the ranch on Wednesday, which is where I sit now soaking up every moment.
Sigh.
I updated the week by week pictures. Sorry about the delay. I wanted to redo the pages, so now there is a separate page for the elephant pictures and for the cradle pictures. We are still doing both just in case we decide soon that she is too big to go into the cradle (i.e. standing up in it). I will update the outtakes soon.
I can't believe how much she has grown and changed. She is quite the young lady now.
Anyways, you can check out how much she how changed on the new pages!
Chris and Lottie went as Calvin and Hobbes for Halloween, which is Chris' favorite comic strip of all time. He can relate to the mischievous Calvin without a doubt. They were pretty cute:
I technically went as Calvin and Hobbes' mom (I can relate to that role about as much as Chris can relate to Calvin haha). My costume wasn't super exciting, so I didn't really take any pics.
We decided not to take Lottie trick or treating since she is just a baby, so we hung out with a group from church to celebrate. We had a great time. Here are some more pictures of our stinkin' cute Hobbes.
ROARRRR!!!!
I think Lottie enjoyed dressing up with her Daddy.
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