1/2 birthday

Although I think its silly to actually celebrate a 1/2 birthday, it is a big milestone for the first year! So I put together her month photos in a collage, cried a little and thought about how great the next 6 months will be if these for 6 are any indication!

xoxo
Ashlea

6 months!

  This has been my favorite month so far! Do I say that every month? If so its because Little Miss just keeps getting more fun and every month I love watching her grow and learn :)

Lots happened this past month - she has been sooting, worming, flailing around for weeks now, getting up on her hands and knees and screaming in frustration because she wasnt moving. Then one day out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw her crawl but then I didnt see it again so we moved on with our day. That afternoon we were playing in her room and BAM - hand over hand crawling. She was sooooooo happy and proud of herself, she probably did 20 laps around her room - no joke.

This was the only decent picture of her I could get because she would not hold still! She was one day shy of 6 months and she hasnt looked back since. Every day she gets a little faster and a little sneakier :)

This month she also has been going from laying on her back, to rolling over to hands and knees to sitting and back again. Girlfriend is on the move 24/7. She has been spending a lot of time in her playroom and I love it because I can leave her there for a few minutes while I go to the bathroom/make some breakfast/get dressed because she is happy exploring all over and I know she is safe because there are no "off limit" things in that room.

and your "official"6 month picture (2 weeks late! ooops!)

xoxo
Ashlea

Thanksgiving

 For Charlotte's third airplane trip we went back up to DC for Thanksgiving to visit with both families. She was a little fussier on this trip because it hit right at bedtime but overall it wasnt too bad.

We did Thanksgiving at Bean's house and did the usual food (it was so easy to make most of it dairy free for me!) and then did our Black Friday shopping. It was pretty tame again this year due to people shopping on Thanksgiving instead, but we will not give in! Black Friday will remain on Friday for us :) We all ended up getting good deals on the things we were looking for and had a good time hanging out together.

Of course the highlight for everyone was hanging with the baby and she of course loved all the attention :)

We also got to celebrate a delayed Dwaili with Tony's family since we weren't together for it this year.

It was as always a wonderful visit and in just a few weeks we will be back for Christmas!!

xoxo
Ashlea

Last bit of thankful giving

  I am so behind but will hopefully get caught up by this weekend!

 Before we left for Thanksgiving we made our contribution to Operation Christmas Child. This was something we did every year through the church we grew up in and I have such great memories of it. Charlotte and I picked a little girl age 2-4 years old and hot up the Dollar store and Target and pack our shoebox full of girly goodies :)

We put in a toothbrush, books, socks, headbands, light sticks, a notepad and crayons, playdough, a "growing" washcloth, coloring book, a bendable flower and one of those water and glitter filled slipper snake things.

While picking out the presents Charlotte got to ride in the cart like a big girl - she was quiet proud :)

It also just to happen that that morning Mama sent me an email with a touching story about Operation Christmas Child that she had read

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/22/how-a-shoebox-forever-changed-an-orphans-life/

It took me about 30 minutes and 20 dollars to put the shoebox together - something so easy and small for me to do but could make a huge impact on a child somewhere.

I hear the unmistakable sounds of a baby up form her nap! More updates soon!

xoxo
Ashlea

Continuing Thanks

     Our latest act of kindness from our Thankful Tree comes from us being thankful for healthy food and clean water. I never think twice about if Charlotte, Tony or myself will have a healthy yummy meal or clean water to drink tomorrow, we always do and for that we are very thankful.

   Last week during our Costco grocery shopping we picked up some food to donate to the local food bank. Yesterday we stopped by and dropped it off, the man working there let us know that the food we gave would feed dozens of people and he was so grateful for our generosity. Our local food bank is part of the Huntsville Assistance Organization which helps families who are in need of food, utilities, housing and finding employment. I love that they are local and we will be helping a neighbor have a warm meal :)

Part of what we gave......

I tried to pick the healthiest options I could while still having them be non perishables

Charlotte feels good about helping others :)

xoxo
Ashlea

Water Exploration

In October I focused some of Charlotte's play on fabrics, this month we focused on water. I had noticed her more interested in the faucet and my water glasses and so I followed her lead and gave her a variety of water activities this month.

The Faucet

 This is her favorite, we did it several times a week - it was perfect for after lunch clean up!


Bath Time

We were finally able to find a bath seat for her after searching high and low because they are illegal now due to babies drowning in them - says so right on the seat! But since I dont leave my infant unattended in the bath its a risk we are willing to take because a baby bath does not work for this girl (lay down? container her in a small space? give her mouth access to gallons of water to gulp? Not happening) and I was tired of having to get in the bath with her every night and so was she - girlfriend loves her independence. So the bath seat has been a huge hit and now after we wash we usually play for another 10 minutes. We splash, sing songs and play with toys - good times all around :)

Water Tray

Another hit with Little Miss was the water tray - a cookie sheet with a layer of warm water, a few toys (she LOVES those little animals! anything chewable and has a face is a winner in her book :) ) , put a few towels down and let her go. It didn't hold her attention as long as the others but she enjoyed it and had fun. She finished by laying her face down in the water, lifting her wet face up, blew some raspberries and died laughing. She is a silly one :)

xoxo
Ashlea

Baby Its Cold Outside.......

C in a jacket is my new favorite thing <3

xoxo
Ashlea

Giving Thanks

   I love traditions. Just ask Mama what happens when someone suggests mixing things up on a family holiday - international fare for Christmas dinner? going out to eat for Thanksgiving? no "santa" presents on the couch? No way Jose. Although I have conceded on the going to dinner for Christmas this year but really that is due to Daddy having a procedure done and us needing to be flexible :)

   One great thing about having a baby is that we get to continue our traditions as well as start new ones. One new tradition that I am starting with her is a Thankful Tree.

   We went out and collected branches and put them in a vase, then we came up with things that we are thankful for and throughout the month of November we will do acts of kindness to pay it forward.

   Our first act of kindness came from us being thankful for toys and games. Charlotte has no shortage of these, because we can provide these for her we are very grateful. So we rounded up some old puzzles and games and donated them to our favorite thrift store (all proceeds go to a local dog shelter).

       The next act of kindness will be an ongoing one. Our item that we are thankful for is healthy minds and bodies. Everyday I see Charlotte developing right on schedule,  I am thankful. Every time we go to the doctor and get to hear "she is so healthy!", I am thankful. When I know that Charlotte has two healthy and stable parents to guide and love her, I am thankful. So I am teaming up with a wonderful lady who is the parent of one of my former students at The Riley Center and putting together a 10k run fundraiser. Because those sweet babies who don't hit typical milestones and their parents who don't get to hear them declared healthy need that school and that school needs money. Bad. So hopefully it will be a great success and we can ease some of the finical burden the school has.

I cant wait until Charlotte is old enough to come up with her own things she is grateful for and help with the acts of kindness!

xoxo
Ashlea

Charleston, S.C

    This week we went on a trip to Charleston, S.C. The trip was for 2 reasons, number one because since Hurricane Charlie came into our lives this summer we didnt get to do a vacation so this was a nice get away before the nice weather went away for good. Reason number two is because we wanted to scout it out as a place to possibly move.

   We love Huntsville and may very well stay here but it may be easier to have the family close together in Charleston based on job availability and pleasing everyone's "wants"

    The trip was fantastic, we packed so much into 2 and a half days with Beanie and Ryan joining us. We all really felt like we got a good taste of the area and a lot of great information. I didnt take as many pictures as I would have liked but I did end up with a handful. The best way to tell about the trip is in a Pro/Con way since that is the way we were viewing the city.

Pro
- Weather - Its even better than Bama. Mid November and mid 70's during the day and low 60's at night. It was beautiful. I love the weather here but Charleston is even warmer longer :)

Notice the short sleeves :)
(also her "Ren" is spot on in this photo)

- Food - The variety and quality was fantastic. We had BBQ downtown, seafood at a hole-in-the-wall Mom and Pop place, sandwiches at a Jewish deli, low country at a downtown bistro and southern breakfast at a cafe on the beach. There were plenty of Sushi, Thai, Indian, Mexican, Steakhouse, Vegetarian, local food/organic places not to mention all the gelato and coffee places. This is the one thing that Huntsville is really lacking, there are about half a dozen places that we eat at because we dont want chain restaurant food/ fried pre made food. To top it off, all the prices were very reasonable.

-People/Culture - Everywhere we went people were friendly either with a nice smile and nod or starting up a conversation. I chatted with our waitress', other customers at a coffee shop and the ladies who work at our hotel. Another way people were friendly was there driving- no cutting people off or being aggressive. On this point Huntsville and Charleston are tied. The people here are pretty great :)

- Education/ Opportunities for children - There were a bunch of different schools that we passed as we drove around different neighborhoods/towns in the area. We are back and forth on public school (there public schools do rank well) so we want options if we decide against it. I saw multiple Montessori schools, prep schools, private secular schools, private church based schools and per my research there are a large amount of home school groups. There is also a lot of opportunity with the natural environment (beach, marsh etc), history, children's museum and  partnership schools so you can home school half of the time and attend school. Huntsville has some of these supports but not nearly as many.

- The Ocean - although I prefer the lake, we have found that with out a boat or jet skis, it is hard to take advantage of living near a lake. The beach is totally usable without these things and while we want a boat one day its not in the near future.And when we do get to the place where we will buy a boat, there is a lake 45 minutes north of the city - perfect!

Cons
- housing is slightly more expensive
- we would be moving.....................again
- I would miss the beautiful mountains here and all that comes with them like the Autumn colors, hiking and panoramic views of the area

Things like jobs, overall cost of living and such are pretty much equal. All I know is I cant wait to see where the next year or so takes us because wherever it will be, it will be with family  :)

xoxo
Ashlea