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Kid Growth

Family, First Year Months, Kid Growth

Halfway

James,

I feel like every month I write this but I am at a loss as to how we are halfway finished with your first year.  I console myself by telling myself that we still have a whole half left but if it goes any faster than this first half I might have to resort to putting bricks on your head to stop you from growing!

You are such a little BOY now!  It’s hard to believe how much spunk you’re developing each and every day and watching you grow and explore your surroundings is so much fun.  You are up to something new almost constantly now and I just watch in amazement as you develop right before my eyes.

You are, just like your parents and your sister, stubborn.  If you don’t want to do something you won’t do it.  Case in point, rolling over.  You did it maybe five or six times and then decided that it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be and have refused to do it ever since.  It drives me batty but you couldn’t care less.  Even if we let you wail on the floor with tears coming down for 30 minutes you still won’t give in.  You’ve got an iron will when it comes to rolling over and I hope it doesn’t portend an even more stubborn streak when you’re a toddler!

Second case in point, cereal.  We hoped that your lack of joy in eating was just because we were feeding you rice cereal but you have yet to develop a love for oatmeal either.  And it’s not just that you make faces while you eat it, it’s that you REFUSE to eat it.  You’ll put it in your mouth, roll it around, let it stay in there and get nice and slimy and then stick your tongue out and let it fall back out of your mouth.  I’ve been more diligent the last few weeks about feeding you consistently but it hasn’t changed anything.  Since you’ve shown us some that you can eat it you just don’t want to eat it, we’re forging ahead with some carrots and peas this week.  We’ll see how that goes!

You’re still a great sleeper but we’ve changed your schedule a little and dropped your late evening nap.  Right now you’re eating at 7:30, 10:30, 2:30, 5:45, and 7:30 (6 ounces when we feed you with a bottle).  You go down for a nap at 9:15, 12:15, and 4:15.  We can definitely tell when it’s getting close to time to go down again because you start getting fussy and your noises escalate.  But as soon as we lay you down you’re a goner until it’s time to wake up.  You have started waking up early in the morning though.  Not that you’re making a lot of noise, but when we turn on the light you are usually sitting there grinning ear to ear at us.

You never really took to a passy but you suck your thumb when you sleep.  Your typical position is with one thumb in your mouth/right next to your mouth and your other hand at your side tucked right under your body.  It looks pretty uncomfortable to us, but you might like it because that’s how you are when we look at you on the monitor 95% of the time!

You have become so interactive this month!  You are a pro at sitting now and I feel pretty comfortable leaving you on the carpeted floor while I get up and wash my hands or do something else.  Yesterday I left you sitting while Sissy went potty, washed her hands, etc which takes a while since she’s a slowpoke sometimes and you just sat looking around the entire time.  Since you didn’t have any toys you eventually got bored with sitting up and wanted to lay down but you kept looking around and couldn’t figure out how to get yourself down without bonking your head on the floor.  So you just looked up at me and started fussing, flailing your arms until I laid you down.

You are also a big talker now.  We’re getting some “ah” and “oh” sounds from you but mostly we’re getting a lot of high pitched squealing.  You love doing it back to us, as in we say something and then you squeal back to us.  You especially love doing this when you sit up with Sissy after waking her up.  Y’all can sit there and “talk” for five minutes before y’all get bored.  You do make a sound that sounds an awful lot like “hey!” but I know it’s just a coincidence.

You still love your jumper and occasionally will be happy in your bouncer for a few minutes as long as you can see someone.  You do ok on your tummy as long as you have toys but are content to play on your back reaching for different toys for an indefinite amount of time.  You have strong little legs buddy and love standing on our legs.  You are so strong that we only have to hold your hands to balance you and you can keep yourself up for a while before plopping back down.

In order to give me a break sometimes we occasionally put on Praise Baby to keep Sissy occupied for a few minutes.  She loves dancing around the den to it and you adore watching it and her.  You just look back and forth the whole time with a look of delight on your face.  Actually, you love watching Charlotte dance any time any place.  It’s so sweet to see you forming a bond already!

You are reaching out for us a little.  Mostly you love to reach out to touch our faces.  And grab our hands which you immediately try and stick in your mouth.  And let me just say, you’ve got a strong bite young man!  Those poor teeth of your still haven’t come through but it’s not for lack of trying to claw them out on your part or for lack of drool to soften your gums up!  Thankfully they don’t seem to really bother you so other than constantly choking yourself by trying to stick your fist down your throat you’re ok.

Even though you’re still sleeping a lot it’s easier to get out and run errands with you these days.  As long as I’m quick you’re happy to be in the Baby Bjorn and I think you really enjoy being in it to take Charlotte in to and pick her up from school.  And you just look around while we’re in the car checking things out.  You like to chew on Sophie when you’re in your car seat.

Speaking of Sophie, she’s probably your favorite toy.  You also love the little books that crinkle that you can chew on.  And we found Mr. Whoozit at Memma and Papa’s on Sunday and you loved him.  You really enjoy anything that you can make make noise and that you can put in your mouth.

You are growing more than just vocally!  It seems like you have grown a lot over the last month and I can’t wait to see what your height and weight are next week when we go for your checkup.  Some of your six month outfits are getting to be tight and your 6-9 month outfits fit you really well although they look HUGE hanging on the hanger and I can’t believe that they fit.  We had to get you 9 month pj’s and I thought for sure that they would swallow you but they are just a tad bit roomy but fit you fine.  We moved you up to a size 3 diaper since your size 2’s would leak almost every time we put one on you and while they look really big too when we pull them out they fit you great.

I still call you Jamesy most of the time little one and I’m not sure that I’ll ever stop.  I remember looking at you in my arms for the first time when you were born and just thinking that “James” was such a big name for such a little boy.  So I dubbed you Jamesy and while you’ll hopefully always be known at school and everywhere else as James, you’ll probably remain my Jamesy forever.  Although, I do promise to try and stop saying it when you’re 16 and bringing girls home but I can’t make any solid promises.  🙂

Your Daddy, sister, and I love you so much baby boy.  You bring so much joy and happiness to our lives and we can’t imagine a second without you.  Your laid back personality is a balm to my stressed out soul and I drink up every second that I can with you.

I love you so much Jamesy-boy,
Mommy

Family, First Year Months, Kid Growth

James at Five Months

Jamesy-boy,

I can’t believe how old you’re getting!  This has been a BIG month for you!  We were on the go and you were knocking out milestones left and right!

We still don’t have any teeth but we’re guessing they’re coming SOON because you will only take your hands out of your mouth if you have something else to go in it.  We think we can feel your top left tooth but nothing has shown up yet.  The amount of drool that you’re producing though and your recent fussiness has told us that teeth are on their way.  Sophie the Giraffe has made her appearance this month and you love her!
You started rice cereal a few weeks ago but even after repeated feedings you still aren’t a fan.  We even tried oatmeal too since Sissy liked that much better than rice cereal but you didn’t like it either.  We’ll keep trying and I guess try baby food in another month if you don’t warm up to the cereal!

Your jumper came out this month and you love it.  You are great at bouncing and love spinning yourself around to look at things on all sides of it.

We went to Tuscaloosa for the National Championship celebration.  Since you are awake much longer these days you enjoyed yourself more than the football games.

You have developed quite a personality this month.  You are all smiles most of the time unless your teeth hurt (and even then, it’s a very mild fussiness).  We love interacting with you and watching you respond to us.  Some of your favorite songs are “Pop goes the Weasel”, “Soft Kitty”, and “Jesus Loves James”.  Most times when we change your diaper we have to sing so you don’t get upset.  Singing can calm you down quicker than almost anything.
You have definitely found your toes this month and it’s very common to see you in this position when we get you up from bed or when you’re on the floor!

The winter weather has been so mild that we’ve been able to take walks and you have really enjoyed seeing the world.  You aren’t a fan when it gets windy but love watching the trees go by.

It was a big movement month for you.  You started rolling over from your front to your back, but you prefer to not do it most of the time.  You have rolled over a handful of times without our help at all (Daddy was watching you and Sissy one night and he was helping her and heard a thump and turned around and you had rolled over!) but you just don’t really like doing it.  This picture might show why.  You started sitting up!  This is very recent (only last weekend) and you need help getting into position but once you find your balance you are able to sit for a minute or two by yourself.  It will be very nice when you can master this totally by yourself but we are so proud that you’re already trying!

As far as schedule goes, there have only been slight modifications.  As of last night, we dropped your late evening nap.  So right now you are eating at 7:30, 10:30, 2:30, 6, and 8.  You sleep from 9:15 – 10:30, 12:15 – 2:30, and 4:15 – 6.  You definitely decreased your eating amounts to 10-15 minutes total instead of twice that long.  I guess your four month growth spurt ended and you realized you didn’t need to eat so much.  You are a growing boy who is wearing 6 month clothes.  There are a few 3-6 month things that still fit but not very many of them.  And there are a few 6-9 month outfits (like the elephant outfit from your monthly picture) but, again, not many of them.  You’re still in size 2 diapers and I don’t think we’ll change soon, but we might!
I also updated this on the 8th after I took you to the doctor for a possible ear infection.  You weighed 13 lbs and 12 ounces!  You are a growing boy!

James, you are a joy in our lives and we are so thankful that you are here.  We can’t imagine our life without you!  You are so happy and full of energy.  You make us smile every time we see you.  You are ticklish and quick to smile.  You are somehow all boy already and we can’t wait to see what you’re doing in a month, a year, and many years from now.  We love you sweet boy! Happy 5 month birthday!

Love, Mommy

*James at months one, two, three, four, five
*Charlotte at months one, two, three, four, five, six
Family, First Year Months, Kid Growth

Four month checkup

I took James to his four month checkup this morning.  Other than his distaste for his shots he did great.  I  just wanted to record his stats since this is my only record keeping method!

He was:
24 1/2″ long (30%)
16″ head circumference (15%)
12 lbs 11.5 ounces (15%)

This is just slightly bigger than his sister but smaller in percentages, I guess since he’s a boy.

We did get the ok to start cereal though so that should be exciting!

Family, First Year Months, Kid Growth

Our little four month old

Jamesy-boy,

I am in total disbelief that you are four months old.  Where in the world has the time gone?!? This has been a fun week for me because I’ve been able to think about exactly where we were this time last year.  January 2nd — just home from Orlando with no idea you were on your way.  January 3rd — our life and family totally changed and we began anticipating your arrival!  What a week it was last year and how glad that you’re here with us this year!

You have started coming into your own this month and making your likes and dislikes known!  It’s fun to see your little personality start coming out in more ways.  For instance, while you are a happy and laid back baby I’m afraid you might have gotten more of your mother’s pessimistic nature than your dad’s optimistic one due to the times you give us the following face where you furrow your eyebrows…

You’re either in disbelief that we’re making you do something, concerned, or just plain annoyed but we see those little eyebrows go together quite a lot!  The good news is that your facial expressions aren’t really affecting your happy disposition.  You are a smiley boy and love being where the action is.  You give all of us, including Charlotte, big toothless grins and we love every second of it!

You have also become so aware of your environment.  Like in this picture…

You are mesmerized by the fan in your room.  You love watching fans go round and round!  Your desire to be included and see your surroundings has gotten to be a little bit of a quandary though because you were spending time in your activity gym in your pack and play while I would take care of your sister (fixing lunch, etc) but now you don’t like being where you can’t see us.  I’m still trying to figure out how to juggle both of you but we’re putting you in your bouncer a lot more so that you can see but still be secured.  If I’m there next to you you’ll hang out in your Bumbo too.

This month did see some firsts for you.  You spent your first night away from us the entire night.  This ended up not too well with you keeping Memma up most of the night and you ending up with your first ear infection.  You also had your first Christmas which, lets me honest, you basically slept through.  But you have some very generous family who have you stocked on toys for the rest of your first year!

Our schedule is still looking the same.  Feeding at 7 or 7:30 am, 10:30, 2 pm, 5:30, and 8:30.  You’re staying up for an hour and a half total including the time that you’re eating.  You are still somewhat flexible in moving you back and forth between the car and your crib but I can see that ending pretty soon and that will make my day a lot more difficult!  But for now you still fall asleep in the car and will fall back to sleep quickly when I move you to your crib.

We tried to weigh you tonight but couldn’t get a good reading.  Your four month appointment is next week so I’ll get your stats then.  But I know that we’ve moved you to size 2 diapers.  You are wearing some 3 month clothes but once they’ve been washed a few times they’re too small.  So you are mostly wearing 6 month clothes and while they are a tad roomy on you (see your sleeves in this outfit) they fit you for the most part.

James, I want you to know how much we are enjoying you.  This transition to two kids has been difficult but we wouldn’t trade one second with you.  You and your sister are my favorite and I cherish every second that I get to spend with you.  We love you so very much!
love, Mommy

*James at months one, two, three
*Charlotte at months one, two, three, four, five, six
Family, First Year Months, Kid Growth

Three Months

Jamesy-boy,

How in the world are you already three months old?!?!  It seems like just yesterday that we didn’t even know you were on your way and now, here you are, no longer a newborn but a nice little baby!

This month has been a big one for us.  At the start of the month you were still eating eight times a day, waking us up at night every 3-4 hours.  Within two weeks though you transformed and are now eating five times a day and sleeping 10 hours at night!  I guess it finally just clicked with you and we are so thankful that it did!  Your Daddy and I feel like entirely new people after almost a solid month of sleeping through the night!  You have probably only woken up in the middle of the night 3 or 4 times since that first night you slept through the night.

Currently you’re typical schedule is this.  7 am we wake you up (yes, you’re usually still snoozing then but we’ve got to get you up then so that we can keep our day running smoothly!).  You eat and play until 8:15.  Then you go back to sleep and we wake you up to eat again at 10:30.  Again, play until 11:45 and then back to bed.  We wake you up at 2 pm to eat and you stay up and play until 3:15.  Then you nap again until we wake you up at 5:30 to eat.  You stay up until 6:45 and then nap until we wake you up at 8:30 to eat.  You are usually back in your crib to go to sleep by 9 and you sleep until 7.

Being on this side of the sleep schedule I will say that I think spending nine weeks of you waking up two to three times during the night was worth it to go straight to sleeping so long.  But when we were in the middle of that I definitely wouldn’t have said that!  Your first two months it looked like we might be in trouble because you didn’t like sleeping at night and didn’t like sleeping during the day.  But now you love nap time and usually go down without a peep and sleep great at night!

As you can see in this picture, this month has been big for your personality too!  You are all smiles most of the time now!  You love your activity gym and enjoy batting at the objects on it.  You try and grab your baseball player but don’t have quite enough of a grip to grab him yet.  You also have started reaching for the shapes on your bouncer which is a lot of fun.  Last Saturday you managed to touch the triangle hanging from the elephant which we all go really excited about!

And while you don’t cry often when you do your little lips turn down into the cutest pout I’ve ever seen.  I wish we could catch it on film but it’s just so short lived that we don’t have a shot.  But when you get startled you will just pout and quiver your chin for a few seconds before wailing.  Given the fact that your wails are short lived too it’s pretty cute!  I have a cold right now and have been sneezing a lot.  There have been some times when I’ve sneezed over my shoulder while I was feeding you and you jumped a mile high and did your sad face before crying for a second.  It’s sad but also so cute!

You have found your hands this month and love holding them together.  When you’re not batting things on your activity gym you hold your hands together.  And often you sleep like that until you get zonked into a deep sleep and throw them up next to your head.  We tried a little when you were first born to get you to take a passy but you don’t really want anything to do with one unless we’re out and we need you to get to sleep.  If you’re in the sling or something you’ll take it because you can keep it in when you press it against me, but at home you are fine without it.  You suck on your thumb and sometimes your fingers which I don’t love because I know how hard breaking a thumb habit is now, but I guess it goes with the territory since your sister sucks her thumb too.

You got sick for the first time this month.  I guess that’s what happens with a big sister in school, she gets it first and then passes it to everyone else.  We took you to the doctor for a low fever and they had to draw blood to make sure you were ok but everything looked ok so you just weathered it.  You seem totally over it now and so I’m just hoping that I don’t give it back to you since I was the last to get it!

The round the clock feeding for nine weeks definitely helped your weight gain.  Although you’re still packing on the pounds even sleeping through the night!  I weighed you this morning and you weighed 13 pounds on our scale.  I also tried to measure you and got 23 inches but who knows if that’s right since you’re really squirmy.  You are still in size one diapers and are in 3-6 month clothes.  Most of the 3 month outfits are too little but the 6 month ones are too big.

You also quit the swaddle last week which was sad for us!  Charlotte was swaddled until about 5 months but you kept waking up with your legs totally out of it so we tried you without it and you did fine.  That is posing a problem for jammies though since we mostly had gowns and those end up around your waist by morning if we put you in one.  For now you’re sleeping in footies but we had been putting those on as outfits so we need to get some exclusive pi’s.

You are such a sweet little guy and we are so thankful that God put you into our family!  You are easy and go with the flow and so laid back which is so nice since we’re often out and about ferrying Charlotte to one place or another.  You’re a great eater and a wonderful sleeper and we are loving watching you grow!

I love you Jamesy!
Mommy

*James at months one, two
*Charlotte at months one, two, three, four, five, six
Charlotte, First Year Months, Kid Growth

Two and a Half

Charlotte Lee,

I find it so hard to believe that you’re two and a half.  In some ways I can’t believe how quickly the time has flown because weren’t you just my little infant?  In other ways you seem so big and grown up now that it surprises me that you’re not older!  You have grown so much, especially in these last two months after your brother’s arrival that sometimes it’s hard to remember the young toddler that you used to be compared to the grown up toddler you are now.

So to chronicle you at 2 and a half, my little girl, let’s start with the stats.  We weighed you last week and you weighed 29.2 lbs.  We measured you and you were 35.5 inches tall.  (Just for comparison at her 2 year appointment she weighed 25.3 lbs and was 34.5 inches tall.)  You must have hit another growth spurt and now look so tall compared to lots of other kids your age!  You are wearing mostly 2/2T outfits but are wearing some 3/3T outfits.  You are in a shoe size 8 but I bet that moves up to a 9 pretty soon.

You are quite the little helper.  Some of the things that you like to help me with are putting away the plastic plates from the dishwasher.  Getting out a diaper for James and handing it to me or putting it on the changing table.  Picking out an outfit for James to wear.  Putting your clothes in the dirty clothes hamper.  Putting your toys away at the end of the night (not sure you like doing this but you’re good at it!).  And checking on James if I am not within a few feet of him.

Speaking of James, let’s address the change in your little life.  You have handled the adjustment to a family of four beautifully.  I honestly was most worried about you at bedtime because I have been the last one to be with you in our bedtime routine since you were born.  But after maybe three nights of a small amount of tears you adjusted to Daddy finishing the routine with you and now we’re at a point where I don’t think you would like it if I tried to take back that spot.  Thankfully you go with the flow and let me handle everything during the day and Daddy handle it at night which works out perfectly.

The “taking turns” of Mommy and Daddy has been a little bit of an issue.  If Daddy’s home for a long period of time (long weekend, etc) by the end of the time you only want Daddy to help you.  But during a normal work week you get upset the first few times you need something after Daddy gets home and he comes to help you.  But that’s not to say that you haven’t become a huge Daddy’s girl during this time.  You always loved your Daddy but you now love, love, love to play with him and read with him and pretty much do anything with him and I know that he loves that too.

Part of you becoming so incredibly vocal is that you are expressing yourself so much.  A common phrase for you is to come up to me out of the blue and hug me and say, “I love you sooo much!”  The other night we read your Snuggle Puppy book and when you were putting it down you said, “That made me happy.” Your vocal skills are exceptional and we are constantly amazed by the things we say.  One of the problems with your vocal skills and your memory is that it’s hard to get away with something.  For instance, one day when Papa picked you up from school he pinched your leg in your car seat.  I’m not sure there’s been a time since when Papa’s put you in your carseat that you’ve either asked, “You’re not going to pinch my leg are you?” or told him after he’s finished, “You didn’t pinch my leg like last time!”

It is really helpful that you are very expressive about how you’re feeling.  We are definitely dealing with the two’s and the fact that sometimes you get upset and won’t vocalize your feelings but a lot of the time you will tell us what’s the matter and/or what we can do to help.  Right along with that though are a lot of instances when you tell us “I’m so upset about Sandy (her stuffed animal)” or “I’m sad about Minnie.”  When we ask you why you’re sad about them almost 100% of the time you’ll say, “She bumped her back.”

As evidence by that story, your imagination has taken off.  You will sit and play with your nativity or your cookies for a while and just talk to them and make up stories about them or pretend that you’re cooking.  You often tell us that you’re going to Memma’s or to the Rosa Bowl or somewhere else and say “Bye!” and go get in your Cozy Coupe and ride off somewhere.  It is fun to see you advance in this area and become a little girl.

Another area of independence is school.  Back in the spring we went through another phase when you would get upset when I dropped you off at school.  I was afraid that we might get back in to that at the beginning of this year but all year you’ve been happy as a clam to go to school and be left.  You are also able to tell me what you did at school each day and get so excited to show me your “craft” that you made that day.

You love being like Mommy or Daddy or whoever and one of your favorite games is “I got your spot!” where you run and leap into the person’s seat when they get up.  You won’t let me cook while you’re awake without bringing your stool over to let you “help” and you always require your own spatula to cook with.  You love it when we both wear our “cowboy boots” and you love wearing jewelry like Mommy.

Speaking of jewelry, you have quite an opinion on what you’re going to wear.  Sometimes I can get away with telling you what you’re going to wear but most times you want to pick it out.  I’ve decided that since we’re fighting some other obedience problems (obeying the first time asked, etc) that this isn’t a battle that I want to fight so I pretty much let you have your free reign.  While sometimes that ends up with something that doesn’t match — I think once you had on a pink shirt and black and blue striped leggings — sometimes you end up with adorable outfits that I probably wouldn’t have thought to put together.  You love your monkey bar buddies and wish you could wear those every day.  And all pants are considered “yeggin’s” (leggings) by you and you get annoyed when anyone calls them pants.  EXCEPT pj pants which you and Daddy have a running joke about that Daddy calls them “paaaa-nts” (no way really to spell it the way he says it) and you tell him, “Not paaa-nts! Pants!”

We ditched your diapers in July and never really looked back.  You’re still in a pull-up during nap time and bedtime but I don’t really mind that.  You have regressed a little in it when we’re at home since James was born.  I’m not sure if it’s for the attention or you just know that there’s more clothes here or what but you have some accidents (never on the floor, just enough to get your clothes a tad damp) here but I can only remember once that you have ever had an accident outside of the house and that was at school and, honestly, wasn’t entirely your fault.  We are so proud of you that you just went with the flow and did it and while it was daunting at the time looking back you did it so quickly!

And as far as your eating habits go you’ve evened out.  You still won’t really touch a vegetable with a ten foot pole but these days you’ll eat, or at least try, most anything else.  You eat all kinds of meats and will eat any fruit.  You love snacks — specifically yogurt raisins, chex mix, pretzel goldfish, and fruit snacks — but will eat pretty much anything for a snack if your favorites aren’t available.  You love juice but we rarely let you have it because you tend to have a lot more accidents when you’ve had it.  And when you do get juice it is still diluted at least 50% with water.  Your favorite breakfast foods are cheese grits, cinnamon raisin toast, and monkey muffins, but you also eat oatmeals, pancakes, and cereal bars on a regular basis.

Charlotte, you are definitely your own little person and we are loving watching you grown and develop such a wonderful personality.  While we are struggling some in figuring out how to best teach you to be a respectful, caring little girl, we love you to pieces and wouldn’t trade any of those struggles for anything because it means that we get you.  You are so sweet and kind and polite and imaginative and funny and crazy and smart and beautiful and wonderful and we love you with all of our hearts.  Just like I told you today, you are my favoritist little girl in the whole wide world and I am so incredibly blessed and humbled that I get to be your Mommy.

I will tell you now that I’m going to mess up in this parenting job just like you’re going to make mistakes but I want you to know that every single thing that I do, I do with your best interests in heart.  You can be anything little girl and I want you to grow and learn and explore and find exactly what your calling in life is and then live it to your fullest potential.  You are extraordinary and your talents and blessings will take you so far in life if you let them.  But if you chose, like I did, to be a stay at home Mommy and not make your place in this big world but just to make your place in your home we will still be just as proud of you. Nothing that you can do can make us love you any more than we already do.

And when you do mess up your Daddy and I will be here to help you pick up the pieces.  We might be disappointed for a time but we will never, ever love you any less.

And even more than us, God loves you exponentially and He will always be there for you.  We are praying for you daily that you will come to a lasting relationship with Jesus Christ and we hope that we can help lead you to Him.  We will let you down at times, but Jesus never will.  We love hearing you recite your Bible verses from school or singing “Jesus loves me” or playing with your nativity and we hope that we are helping you plant seeds that will later grow to help you yearn for a relationship with Christ.

You are our precious baby girl.  Our firstborn.  And you are amazingly special to us.  You are your own person and the absolute best Charlotte there ever could be.  We love you with our whole hearts and would do anything for you.  We are so glad that we get to be your parents and we can’t wait to watch in amazement as you grow into the lovely girl that you will be.

I love you,
Mommy