I Cringe

So last month, Another Nathan and I switched phones.  Well, kind of. 

Basically he wanted an iPhone but wasn't eligible for an upgrade yet, so we used our upgrade to get an iPhone for Mark's line, then traded Nathan that iPhone for his old (but new to me) touchscreen Droid which we activated on my line, then re-activated Mark's original Droid on his line, which he's content with til the one he really wants goes on sale. At which point we will use Nathan's upgrade to get it.

Clear as mud, right? Don't worry about the details, we all have the phones we want, and the lady in the Verizon store totally loved us (not sarcastic, we make friends wherever we go), so... yeah.

ANYWAY.

All that is just a long way of saying that I ended up with Another Nathan's phone, which somehow retained all his pictures even though we put my sd card in it (and dude is a picture hoarder) and y'all! Look at this vision of heinous I had forgotten about* til I sorted through the masses of pictures on his phone! (I mentioned the hoarder thing already, right? Just making sure.)

If only Charlotte were in here too, it could be an Awkward Sibling Photo of truly epic legend.

In a related story, my children think going to Target with Another Nathan is pretty much the best thing ever. I wonder why.

*repressed. I was there that day but didn't remember this happening til I saw the picture. You know how that goes.

The Keys, C Haz Them

An annoted progression of my key territoriality. (Is that a word? I don't know. I'm too lazy even to google. So, just go with it.)

With Nathan I never let my keys into his line of sight, much less let the jingle be music to his ear or (horrors!) put them in his grubby little baby fist.

With Anneliese, I occasionally resorted to it if she was reeeeeally fussy in public or something, all while claiming I never did it. 

Denial, oh how good you feel.

With Charlotte?  Yeah. 

pretty baby pic by Merritt

She can hold them, she can jingle them, she can chew them, and even though I know when she learns to push buttons I'm going to totally regret it, I can no longer pretend those keys aren't hers, pretty much whenever she wants.

Background: I have a thing with little kids into grownup stuff.  (The thing being, I don't like it. That was obvious, right?)  I cringe when I see little ones holding markers, wallets, trying on parental sunglasses, flipping through papers and grownup books, opening drawers, etc. In babyhood it's innocent enough, but then suddenly you have a toddler who thinks she can control the remote and, um no. People who let their kids play with their phones completely confound me. I mean, I get in theory why they do it and why it's distracting and whatnot, but for me? Hell to the no. We all have our parenting and pet peevey things, that's just one of mine. There are other kiddie habits that I let fly without two blinks (runny noses, flushing every time) but for real - git yer ass outa my purse. I'm territorial like that. I just need some of my grownup stuff to be grownup stuff. (Except when I have this key fail thing, apparently.)

Hot Mess

I'm not sure quite what to say about this.

So, presented without further comment... your daily Anneliese.

Remember When 'Joyride' Meant Something Else?

Hey remember that one time Another Nathan needed to do a test drive with the church bus the night before some conference or another and, because he is a thoughtful and somewhat indulgent friend, he drove it to our house and let us come along?

pre Anneliese haircut. pre Nathan new shoes. obvs.

Yeah. It's the small things like going for a ride on the church bus! that can make any evening with preschoolers better.

(Also, remember how Nathan wanted to wear a sweater like Another Nathan's, and then Anneliese wanted to wear Nathan's other sweater to match too?  Speaking of fashion role models.)

A New Scarf and a Fashion Role Model

Nathan had been bugging me for months for a scarf of his own (both he and Anneliese like to take mine and wear them) (usually whichever one I am already wearing *sigh*) and now, just on the verge of warm spring weather (I hope, I hope), we finally found one that met both his style approval and my cheap-preschooler-wardrobe budget.

He wanted me to take a picture to text and show Mr. David (who, after orange shoelaces and two coveted shirts from our beach weekend, is now his fashion role model? okay), so we did.

Ten minutes later we got a text back from Indiana. Guess who not only approves of the new scarf, but has one eerily similar himself.

OF COURSE HE DOES.

Anneliese's First Haircut

We had our baby girl's hair cut for the first time today.

Hold me, internetz.

In our family's second battle in the War Against Mullets (remember the first?), after several weeks of hair! bugging me!* we decided none of us could take any more of Anneliese's sweaty tangled mess.

I don't know, I thought it was still sort of pretty. (Apparently I was the only one.)

She was a champ. Uncharacteristically quiet and nervous, but after watching Nathan go before her, and making sure she got to also wear a penguin cape and sit in a police car chair, she climbed right up, put on her "big girl serious" face, and didn't fuss one bit.

My biggest fear about this haircut (besides the tantrum that never happened) was that she would lose all her sweet curls, and with them, her clinging-to-babyhood look. But... nope!

After the cutting was all done and it started to dry, they just sprang right back up! Maybe even more than before!

So she's still my sweet curly-haired baby-faced little girl. Now with no mullet.

Love.

Oh and she also now looks more freakishly like her big brother than ever before. Yes?

*My mom and dad just read that and melted. #ashleythrowback #bugginme

Charlotte at Seven Months

Baby Charlotte is seven months old today! Lucky seven. Which means she's well on the way to being not an infant anymore, but I'm pretending that's not the case because (again!) with the baby, with the growing up, with the way too fast can I keep bringing this up every month?  Because it keeps being true!

And it's also true that she's more beautiful, and has a more beautiful spirit, every time I turn around.

Anyway.

Here is Charlotte's report card at seven months old:

Sleeping -- I totally shouldn't tell the internet this, but Charlotte is officially, once and for all, for sure definitely sleeping through the night (*holds breath waiting for lightning to strike*). No seriously. She goes down at 7 and usually isn't up til 6 or later the next morning. It's earlier than I want to get up, but I'll take it.  (And let's be honest, the 6am waking has always been, and forever will be, Daddy's.) B

Socializing -- We have a very smiley and curious baby on our hands, folks. She's interested in the world around her (and by "world" I mostly mean "whatever Nathan and Anneliese are doing"), she giggles when poked, she's incredibly flexible being out and about to run errands and stuff, usually happy even when it's her naptime. However, she is starting to get a little screamy at the gym and in the church nursery when I try to leave her when she's tired. (I only let her take one nap a day, which yes I know is horrible, but it works best for our family schedule so just... deal, internet, deal.) Apparently in those moments, only mommy hugs will do? Healthy attachments to loved ones are great, but other people can be super too. Even when you're tired.  Let's work on that, Squeaks. C+

Eating -- She nurses like a champ, and we still haven't had to enter that annoying baby food stage where I have to remember to pack food and bibs and spoons and whatnot, and then watch her make a slow mess of it while I inevitably lose control of what the big kids are doing in the meantime. (Yeah. Not a fan. Dreading that stage. Can you tell?) But she still nurses well enough and often enough, she's growing great (finally! we have a thriver!) so in my book, the continuation of this simple feeding option is a solid A+.

Bathing -- Charlotte, you still have only had like three baths. In your life. Well, four if you count the day I came home and in a fit of ocd took a foot scrub and a comb to your scalp in the hopes of removing your cradle cap.  (Which I mostly didn't. And every second of which, you hated.)  Let's totally count it though, okay?  And seriously girl, you've gotta jump in the shower more often! Hello! Personal hygeine! F

Strengthening -- So apparently the third time's the charm, because Charlotte will actually (wait for it)... bear weight on her legs. I KNOW. She also rolls (and rolls and rolls) and is trying to use her torso to sit up a bit, but I don't care so much about any of that other stuff because the fact that she will bear weight on her legs is the tiniest bit earth-shattering* in these parts.  I don't... I just... I can't wrap my brain around it. (*For those of you who aren't properly impressed with a Goettsch baby being only four months behind on gross motor skillz, just... shut it.) B+

So once again I did my fancy mommy math and this whole thing averages out to an A+ baby.

(Basically the fancy math amounts to this: you sleep + you smile = you pass.)

Love you, sweet Charlotte.

Bonus Room Wagon

You know that thing where you take a box of legos and put it in your doll stroller, then tip it over and connect the handles to the piano bench which is also tipped over, and then fill that with pillows removed from the couch and climb in as if it's your own custom-designed furniture...?

... and then insist your brother push you around in it while you yell WAGON! WAGON! PUSH WAGON!

... and then wake up the next morning (and the next, and the next) and do it all over again? You know?

Oh... no?  That's not a Thing in your house?  So it must just be a Nathanneliese* thing. Okay.

* #seewhatIdidthere (get on board)

Betsy's Wedding: Superlative Wrapup

I've just returned from a super weekend away in Greenville for my sweet friend Betsy's wedding.  Betsy was one of my earliest friends at Furman (we were on the same freshman hall) and we were roommates our junior and senior years.  I can't even describe how sappy and wonderful everything about this weekend was. Some of the "best of" moments...

Best use of a million people in a wedding party! (Just kidding there were only twenty-six of us. Only.)

Best bride photobomb... baby Charlotte!

Best purple stripey scarf that I only suddenly just now realized I need... Merritt!

Best use of a plunger story in a bridesmaid speech which accidentally-on-purpose made the bride cry... me!

Best pairing of a patterned shirt and patterned tie (in purple, no less!)... Marky!

Best (only *ahem*) sword arch ceremony I've ever seen... the dude who slapped Betsy on the butt with his sword and said "welcome to the marine corps, ma'am!" Um, win.

Best last-love belltower pic ever (and I mean ever)... David!

Best-looking groom I've seen in a loooooong time.... Mastin! (#hott)

Best reuniting of all four roommates for the first time in a decade... J-306!

Betsy, Emily, Sarah and me... reunited and it feels so good

Best post-wedding date sonic-drive-up-in-a-minivan-with-a-baby order.... us!

(It was a blue coconut slushie and some sweet potato tater tots and a large powerade. You know you were dying to know.)

Best best wishes to Betsy and Mastin, we love you both!

For more pics of the weekend, click here for the photobucket album.

Charlotte in the Bubble

We've been in Greenville, at Furman specifically, for my college roommate Betsy's wedding.  Before the festivities, I had to do that thing (again! for the third time!) where I drag my baby out of her car seat and pose with her in front of the belltower, while pretending not to secretly hope she will be recreating a similar moment with her spouse-to-be in a couple decades.

Your daily Charlotte: the requisite belltower shot

And with that, I have officially become one of Those Moms I used to find so annoying when I was a student.

Who cares. Let 'em roll their eyes. She's precious and DANGIT THIS WAS MY COLLEGE FIRST.

Oh and go Paladins and stuff.

(PS Did you know that the Furman belltower is the most photographed spot in South Carolina?  True story.  And it wasn't even Charlotte that tipped the scale.)

(PS who puts PS's in a blog post? *sigh*)