Happy Birthday Charlotte!

Charlotte celebrated her third birthday on March 27.

The festivities included a pinata, balloons for all and raging winds at the park.

My mom was a huge help setting up and keeping things running smoothly.Uncle Steve came out for the event.

We love you Charlotte! It seems like just yesterday we walked you home from the hospital and wondered what in the world we were doing. Now life wouldn't be the same without you!

Blue Skies

Charlotte: Can I go fly a kite with Daddy in his shorts and sweater?

Enjoying a beautiful day at the park

Me: Does your baby want to sit in the high chair?
Charlotte: No, she needs food from my belly.

2 Months

She looks like such a calm, collected baby! :)

Weight: 13 lbs 2 oz - 92%
Height: 23.5 inches - 85 %
Head: 16 inches - 88%Beautiful days are here again! My little artist has discovered a new canvas.

Smiles

Gearing up....

for a smile!

Olivia's smiles are VERY rewarding, because she has been much more of a challenge than I ever imagined. I think a part of me thought that babies just sat there and happily sucked their pacifiers and sat in a bouncy chair or rode around in their strollers in between naps and feedings, and dozed to sleep when they got tired no matter what the environment. This was my experience with Charlotte, who was an ideal infant.

But, everything having to do with Olivia has been different from the delivery on. We love her tons but ever since her one month mark she has been a tough one, demanding constant attention, in very specific ways - or we are graced with blood curdling screams. We have better days (like I mentioned in the last post) but most just leave me hoping to survive the next. I've tried diet changes, mylicon, gripe water, you name it... If anyone has had a babe like this and has advice, I welcome it!

My Potato Head

Yesterday Olivia let me take a shower, put on makeup, blow dry my hair and get dressed all without fussing or crying. This is huge, and I don't expect it to become a habit (dare to dream), but I was so happy with her that I busted out a new outfit for her to wear to our postpartum appointment that day. I am glad that I did, since her doctor was so happy to see her that she snatched her up and took her around the office to show off to everyone. Yes, I'm glad she wasn't in her usual nightgown attire...

Yes, she is a bigger girl and is affectionately known around here as Miss Potato Head, mostly because of my inability to get to the folds of her neck (what neck?!) to wash them out!

Here are some pics from our snowstorm a couple weeks ago.
Unfortunately we don't have a ton of gear necessary to spend serious time in the snow. Charlotte lasted about 5 minutes. This picture was taken at the beginning of the storm. By the end, that patio was also covered in a thick layer and the grill even had a foot of snow piled on top of it.

Last time it snowed like this, it turned to ice quickly and we got our taillight busted in a slip-and-slide accident on the road. It still hasn't been fixed, but luckily this time we didn't need to be on the roads until the sun came out and they were clear.

One Month Official

Officially one month old, wearing the first outfit I ever bought for Charlotte, thinking it would be good for her to wear home from the hospital:) Obviously, I had a lot to learn. And still do.

Weight: 10 lb. 11 oz. - 83%
Height: 22.25 inches - 83%
Head: 15 inches - 71%

Playing the fish game together

Olivia's First Month

Olivia's first month has whizzed by! Funny how time speeds up, especially when it is 6 am and you know you only have until 8:30 to get your last minutes of sleep in... she really is a sweetie, though her sleeping habits haven't stabilized as quickly as hoped. My mom is a champ, staying with us during her first week, and graciously taking Charlotte to Houston with her for the second week even though she was sick, and then coming back again to return her safe and sound. Our house sure was quiet that week! We missed Charlotte a lot, but I was glad to have a chance to catch up on some sleep and recovery time. Thank you!!!!

First bath

Proud big sis

Church debut (she wasn't sure about the bow, we'll need to give her head time to grow in that one)

Matching PJs

Introducing...

Olivia Whitney Erickson was born on January 8, 2010 at 8:42pm! She was 7 lb 14 oz, 19 1/2 inches long. I was induced at around 9am and things progressed smoothly until around 6:30pm when the epidural decided not to work anymore. Yikes! But, we made it through and are loving our new little sweetpea. She looks a lot like Charlotte did when she was born, except with an added bunch of dark hair on top and some extra cheek volume. Thusfar she has an insatiable appetite and does not share her mom's love for sleep. We are working on that.

First shot out of the womb. So cold! The coldest yet of the year.

Another Daddy's girl

Relaxing at Parkland Hospital. She'll be able to say she was born at the same hospital where JFK died.

Texas White Christmas

Charlotte wasn't a big fan of posing with Santa this year, but she did enjoy the friendly cows at Chick-Fil-A and we enjoyed all the free food they gave out during their 12 days of Christmas.
We got a surprise storm on Christmas Eve, bringing a few inches of snow and a lot of ice.

Showing off her new kitchen and boots...

and princess set which was a big hit.

Our backyard tundra.

Thank you so much to everyone who shared beautiful greeting cards, treats, meals and gifts with us to make our first at-home Christmas special. It looks like our final present will be a big one - the doctor said our new babe is weighing 7 lbs, 10 oz right now with three weeks to go!

Merry Christmas!

Little bookworm

Charlotte is a book enthusiast. When we went to Houston for Thanksgiving, she made sure no one was spared from their book reading responsibilities:

Deal Reminders

Charlotte, the ever-present tiara, and Uncle Mark
More Thanksgiving stuff to come, don't want to overdo it all at once
photo by Kalina

The lady in front of me in line at Kohl's the other day bought $250 worth of stuff and used no coupon. Unbelievable, since you really have to go out of your way to avoid Kohl's coupons - they really come at you from all directions. A genius marketing move, kind of like their "biggest sale of the year" ad each and every week.

Since I don't want anyone I know to overpay for anything this year, just remember a couple tips:

- When shopping online, use cash back sites! Since starting to do this I have gotten around $150 in checks mailed to me. A lot of this was buying airplane tickets and entertainment coupon books ($10 cash back each last year made them free around March). I've only used Ebates and Cashbaq so far, but there are a lot of them out there now and most have at least a sign-up bonus. Evreward.com is very helpful in finding out which one to use for what sites.

- This year I've gotten $45 worth of Amazon gift cards just for doing online searches on my Swagbucks toolbar. Also not a bad deal.

- Don't buy anything for yourself! Though it is tempting when doing a lot of shopping, if you need something wait until after Christmas - the deals are always better.

Happy Anniversary to us!

6 years and counting!

Second Chances

Sometimes when I give second chances to things it just doesn't work out, whatever it is just doesn't try to win me back.

I wrote to Target's customer service a couple months ago regarding their treatment of couponers. They sent back a bland, generic "we'll look into it" type of reply. So today I tried getting some bargains for groceries using a bunch of manufacturer and Target coupons I printed. The Target coupons were just not scanning at all, so the checker calls for help and no less than four employees gather around the register and one starts immediately spreading out all 20 of my coupons all over in order to inspect all of them, though it was just the Target coupons that weren't scanning, ironically. She tried to manually punch in a 10 digit code for each 50 cent coupon and it still doesn't work though she tried SEVERAL times on each, making for a very impatient customer (me) who is regretting ever stepping foot in the store and wondering where the last 20 minutes of my life went. The team finally gets those coupons to work and apologizes. But, it's too late. It's over, Target. Sorry. I only give two strikes.

When we lived in New York and I had just had Charlotte, we watched The View a lot, because Rosie O'Donnell was always saying crazy things and stirring up drama. When she famously bailed out of the job, I got a little sick of Joy Behar and her nonstop animosity toward the then-President George W. Bush which really came out once she didn't have Rosie's craziness taking center stage anymore. She can disagree with policies and practices all day, but she certainly didn't have to make personal insults, which seemed irresponsible and disrespectful not to mention extremely immature. I didn't like that kind of nastiness in my home so I stopped watching it. When President Obama took office I thought the tone might be more... cheery? So I gave it another chance. Nope, she still brings up the former President any chance she gets in order to blame him for all of the current President's strategies that don't seem to be working all that well. Strike two.

Artist Rendering

At least, a machine at Gattitown rendering.

Our Sick Day

Today Charlotte and I took a sick day. This is not a picture of her today, but during last month's 24 hour fever/virus. She looks a lot better today than that. She was up at lot at night due to congestion (thanks H for getting up with her) and her nose is running like a faucet today, so instead of embarking on our usual busy Wednesday, we stayed home. I can't believe how much I got done!

- Mopped kitchen, dining area, master bathroom (not sure this bathroom had EVER been thoroughly mopped - terrible)
- Cleaned m. bathroom sinks and shower
- Swept hallway
- Cleaned microwave
- 3 loads of laundry including a jillion socks
- Vacuumed bedroom
- Collected, took out trash and recycling
- Turned on 1 more hour of my defensive driving online course

This is more than I have accomplished in a long time which is why I wanted to record the effort. Thanks to Char for volunteering to watch me while I worked and not making TOO much of a mess elsewhere (the pen drawings did scrub out of the dining room chairs). I feel like maybe we should have a stay at home day every week, though it is hard when Kroger Mega Sales and Pre-Black Fridays deals are going on...

Pumpkin mania

We went to the Pumpkin Patch with the cub scouts. Charlotte loved seeing Snoopy, and gave him a kiss. Her dad has been showing her Charlie Brown and The Great Pumpkin a lot!

She also got her first chance at helping carve her own pumpkin, scooping with confidence...and sketching her designs. This girl LOVES to draw, especially faces.

Great job! :) Happy Halloween.

Nuts!

This week there were a couple of really nice days and Charlotte and I decided to go out and pick up the acorns that had fallen from our tree. We had a ton of fun. I had gotten the idea to make them into a wreath from a Martha Stewart Living magazine, so while the acorns dried in the oven, off we went to Michael's to get the wreath form, my first glue gun and a ribbon (all with JoAnn 50% off coupons, of course!). I also got some almonds and hazelnuts to add color, and the next few days really enjoyed putting this together. I wish I was a better bow-maker, however...

This was another project I mentioned before - cleaning up the living room area and making some sense of all the toys. I LOVE this shelving unit and the tubs that I found on clearance at Bed Bath & Beyond.

Family Picture! At Safety Town's annual trick or treat fest. This year we wised up and get there very early, so we could get good parking, and in and out in a reasonable amount of time and avoid the crowd. Charlotte the Kitty was nervous at first but warmed up to it...

... due to her dad's enthusiasm for candy (notice he is already snacking on the booty!)

But of course her favorite part was the go-carts.