Then and Now! June

So I got inspired by my friend Parker and her blog to do a "then and now" post to see what we have been up to the last couple Junes - here we go!

So June 2008 - when Charlotte began her existence and we didn't even know it!  Jeff and I went down to Destin and Panama City Beach for vacation and for Jeff's sister Ashley's wedding on the beach!  I was a little emotional and not feeling the greatest - who knew, it was because I was pregnant!



A couple weeks later, we bought a test - voila!  (funny story, this test was taken in Super Target!  We had one at home that we did but didn't want to just take one so we both called in sick to work, headed to Target, bought the test and a drink and off I went! lol  We have always loved Target so I guess it's fitting! Plus, we got to go straight to the baby section and get all goo-goo baby crazy!)



June 2009 - Charlotte made her arrival in January and is now 5 months old! She was such a very very happy child and pretty easy to take care of too! (and still is!)

And of course being June the pool was open so we spent lots of sunny days relaxing in the cool waters :)

June 2010: Charlotte really had fun this year in the water since she was able to walk around with the sprinklers and go down the slide at our rec center pool!

And here we are at June 2011! We haven't made it to the pool yet this summer, but I know Charlotte is gonna have a blast when we do get to go!  For now we are enjoying being indoors in the AC and playing with fun toys like the tent! (and the iPad of course!)



And a new favorite food: Cantaloupe! but it HAS to be on a big fork like momma and daddy!



So far June 2011 has been a good one! We are looking forward to a week of vacation that will include a trip to Owensboro and Bowling Green Kentucky, and some good ol' summer fun!

What about you?  What was June like last year or the year before that?  Amazing what changes a year can bring!

$1 Summer Movies!

I am very excited about a cool thing to do this summer - go to the movies!  Charlotte has yet to experience the whole "lets go to the movies" thing - tickets are so expensive we didn't want to chance her not liking it or being too loud and having to leave!

I think this is the perfect way to introduce her to the theatre - Carmike Cinema's Summer Kids Series! Tickets are just $1 per person and the theatre will be filled with other kids and parents so she won't have to be so very quiet!  Even if we do have to leave, we have only wasted a couple bucks and not $20+  They even have a $4 kids bucket with popcorn, drink, and fruit snack.  How cute!  Movies will be shown Thursdays at 10:00am - perfect timing to fit in that afternoon nap still.

We have tons of friends that want to go too, my sister is home for the summer, my Mom usually has Thursdays off, Jeff can always steal away from his work for a couple hours, and of course I have Thursdays off!  Looks like you can find us at the theatre most Thursdays :)

You can go here to find out more about this great program, I went ahead and called our local theatre Thoroughbred 20 in Franklin/Cool Springs to get exact movie dates. Starting Thursday June 9, they will go in this order:

Hotel for Dogs

How to Train Your Dragon

Kung Foo Panda

Madagascar 1

Madagascar 2

Megamind

Monsters Vs. Aliens

Shrek 1

Shrek 2

The Last Airbender

Obviously some of these movies are too old for my 2 year old daughter, but I think there are quite a few we can go too!  If you have any opinions on them (especially for a 2yo girl) please chime in!   If you are local and would like to go to the movies with us sometime, let's chat!  Charlotte and I would love to have movie friends.

So to recap: $1 per person, per show at 10:00am on Thursday's starting June 9!  Whoohoo!

Regal Cinemas is also having a $1 movie program, called Summer Movie Express, on Tuesday and Wednesdays at 10:00.  The Regal Cinemas that is closest to me is not showing these movies, so we would have to go to Green Hills.  A possibility if we really want to see one of these movies, but  I think we'll be good with the ones in Cool Springs :)  You can go here to find out about their program and what theatre is closest to you!  Here is a peek at the Green Hills line up:

Nana and Poppa Visit!

Charlotte and I had a very long but very enjoyable morning yesterday!  We got to spend some great time with Nana (my Dad's mom) and Poppa (Dad's dad)!  We used to go up to their house every Wednesday evening and meet my Dad and we would all have dinner together.  Both my grandparent's health declined over the past few months so we had to stop these Wednesday visits.

My grandmother was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and has been going through treatments and surgery for that for the past few months.  She has handled it all with the best spirit and hopefully just one more surgery then a titch of radiation will be needed and she'll be cancer free.  My grandfather has a myriad of issues relating to his heart, diabetes, and spinal stenosis. Because of these issues, plus the fact that my grandmother cannot care for him any longer, he is currently residing in a long term health facility.  Unfortunately the facility he is currently in is in Smyrna, about 30 minutes away from Nana's house.  Because of these things, we haven't been able to visit as often, but hoping to remedy this soon!  Now that I have my Wednesdays off (and soon will have Thursdays too) I'm looking forward to making the visit to Nana's and the trek to Poppa's more often.

Anyway, back to yesterday!  We played some at Nana's with all the toys in the toy box, then loaded up in the car and drove to Smyrna.  Charlotte was a little freaked out at first as we wound through the halls towards Poppa's room, but after a few minutes in Poppa's room and making friends with a little bunny stuffed animal he had on his window sill, she warmed right up.  We got to spend some great time with Poppa!  He is looking and acting better than he had in a while, he was actually sitting in a chair vs. the bed, carried on conversation with us, and ate his lunch well too. (all things that haven't happened that well in the past few months)  We stayed for about 30-45 minutes until Charlotte was ready for lunch and Poppa was almost ready for an after-lunch-nap.  All in all, it was a great visit and I was so happy to see Poppa doing well.

For those of you that know Nana, you can see how much weight she has lost! She is a whole different woman!

It was difficult to get all 3 of us looking and smiling while Nana was trying to work the iphone camera! :)

At this point poor Charlotte was past her lunch time and almost at her nap time and we still had a 30 minute drive and had to pick up BBQ for lunch.  By the time we got to Nana's Charlotte was just about fed up and ready to eat some lunch!  We had a great lunch of BBQ and was able to enjoy a few minutes of outdoor time with Nana before we headed back home.



I'm so glad my grandparents/Charlotte's great grandparents live so close that we are able to have visits like this!  I'll cherish these memories that Charlotte is making with them.

This is Charlotte after a short nap once we got home at 2:00 - you can see she is still tired!  We had a lazy rest of the day and watched Tangled :)

Progress!

I feel like this past week has been filled with wonderful progress!!  It has made the start of this week so much better too!

First off, we successfully got a full week of the low carb diets under our belts!  Proud to announce a weight loss of 9 pounds!  Super excited to see that in the first week - I know it will become less and less per week as we go on, but I can't help but dreaming what losing this much weight a week would be like!  Overall, the diet wasn't as hard as I had remembered it and while I am already losing interest in some of the foods, seeing that 9 pounds off the scale feels better anyway!  Hopefully gonna try some new foods/recipes this week to change it all up!   I have decided that I will only be weighing weekly.  Before I got caught up so much in the numbers every day and could get really discouraged by it - so just a week at a time people!

Secondly, we got a treadmill!  I have been looking at craigslist for weeks now, every day, to find a free/cheap treadmill to get.  This one was $70 so a little higher than what I wanted but I feel like it is a good deal.   Thanks to my Dad and Jeff for picking it up and hauling it upstairs to our room!  So far I have worked out twice (I'm doing an every other day thing for now) and have walked a mile each time.  I am soooo out of shape people!   But the second time I was able to shave 2 minutes off my initial time!  The treadmill is old and has some quirks for sure, its  really a tad loud so a little hard to watch TV while I'm doing my thing, but I'm thinking if I keep at it long enough and prove that I'll use it maybe I'll get a new (ie quieter) one!



I'm sure the above two items of "progress" has really had a hand in this as well, but I just FEEL so much better!  My stress level is down, my productivily level is up, and my skin has finally cleared back up!  I account a lot of it to having this past week (and forever) without the extra two kids.  It's tough having 5 kids 3 and under anyway, but when 2 of them are having some major stress inducing issues, it does not make life easier!  I have gotten so much done, the house stays cleaner, and I am in a better mood.  Even Jeff has noticed the overall stress level in our house is so much lower.  Say it with me "ahhhhhh"  :)

This week I am looking forward to just 2 more days of childcare and 2 days in Owensboro Kentucky!  Another thing that letting these kids go has allowed me to do - have some days off :)  I'm happy that Charlotte will get to spend some time with her Nana and we'll have a little girls vacay!

I'll share a fun little story to wrap up this little post!  I got in my latest Scentsy order today, and Charlotte loooves when Scentsy comes in.  She loves to help me unpack it all, to smell all the bars, and then to climb in the boxes when they are empty.

She was so enthusiastic in getting the paper out!

Then it was her turn to sit in her box, smell her bars...

And watch TV in her new spot :)

Finally a Fab 5 Friday!

I have been absent on my Fab 5 Friday posts for 2 reasons  - lack of motivation, lack of fabulous things to post (I know that sounds uber melodramatic), and lack of time.  Ok, maybe 3 reasons.  Today I have lots of Fab things to say!

1. Babies babies and more babies!  My dear friends Wade and Allison Combs are bring Laney Sinclair Combs into the world today!!  I am so so so excited for them.  Their 2 year old son Hazen and Charlotte are super buds, I know he is going to be a great big brother! I have been praying for them all day during Allison's scheduled C-section and can't wait to meet Laney tomorrow morning.   AND more awesome baby news, my lifelong friend (and pastor) Josh Howerton and his wife Jana have been in the adoption process and received news that they have been chosen!  They will travel to KY on Monday to pick up Eliana Charis Howerton, a beautiful 1 month old baby girl!  I am beyond excited for them and the Howerton clan. Take a peek at Josh's FB status below - so cool!

The Combs Family (until today!)

2. I am now providing childcare for 4 kids part time instead of 6 kids part time - amazing what that changes for me!  Instead of having 5 kids (including Charlotte) 5 days a week, I'll have 3 kids 3 days a week, 5 kids 1 day a week, and then 1 day off!  This will last about 6 more weeks and then I'll just have 2 kids 3 days a week and 2 days a week of.  I know, it's a lot of numbers.  What it really means: my sanity level feels a little more back to normal, my house is a little more tidy, and I'm really looking forward to those mid-week days off.  It may not last forever for financial reasons, but I'm basking in it for now!

This is me and Charlotte doing puzzles, just the two of us :)

3.  Stockpile!  I know I have posted this before, quite a few times actually.  I tried a couple organizational things with it over the past few months and nothing really worked well.  This time I have it all downstairs in only 2 places, instead of spread out in 3+ places on 2 levels.  The biggest success here is that I have finally made my stockpile list! (Dry goods is done, fridge and freezer should be done soon)  I think it will be much easier to get my list and such done.  Woohoo!

Can goods on shelves, boxed items in tubs below (will be labeled)

Kitchen cabinet for cereal, chips, crackers (takes up too much space in a tub)

Sample of my stockpile check list

4.  I know you aren't supposed to list people, but Charlotte has just been super cute lately in developing her fashion sense, I have to count that as a Fab!

5. Low Carb.  We are back on the low carb diet!  While this is not my favorite diet, I am listing it as a Fab so that it can be motivation to keep on keeping on, and because it is a diet that I know works (I lost 70 pounds on it 2 years ago!) so it is fabulous :)  Sadly, I have gained backed that 70 pounds so it feels very much like I am starting over.  In some ways it was easy to lose that 70 pounds over 6 months, but thinking about it now, I can't imagine doing this for 6 months more, longer than that if I want to actually get down to my goal weight! But anyway, that is more info than this post requires for a Fab.

Amateur Photo Session!

Today was a beautiful sunny day, my 'work' day ended a little early, so Charlotte and I decided to head to the park!  Her biggest joy lately has been the slide  - "slide, fast, slide!"  She looked super cute today with her little pony tail and khaki capris so I decided to take our nice camera along.  That then turned into, let's take a different outfit and shoes and hair thing and voila!  Amateur Photo Session Commence!

We took "casual" ;0) photos with her capris and tshirt and pony tail while she was climbing all over the play gym and swinging. (and go figure, she never actually went down the slide today!)



Then we got more "serious" and went to the car to change into a cute little dress, sandals, and brushed the hair all curly like.  We took a walk in the grass and along the path and by Charlotte's request, across the bridge and the little creek.  She loved "run fast," and picking up leaves, and peeking through the rails of the bridge at the babbling brooke.


In the end I took like 182 photos... maybe a handful of those are even good!  I thought when I was out there clicking away with my little finger I was the greatest photographer and was taking perfect picture after perfect picture. :(  But hey, I got a few good ones and we had fun in the sun!!!  More photos are on Facebook or Mobile Me.

2 year well check up

...and concussion follow up!  What a day...

We had Charlotte's 2 year well child check up scheduled for today, so it turned into a follow up for her concussion as well.  Charlotte loved being in the lobby and seeing all the fish.  As soon as the nurse opened the door to walk us back... the tears started :(  I'm thinking once the nurse in the scrubs showed up and we started walking down these muted colored hallways, she was flashing back to our 3+ hours in the hospital and undergoing a tortuous time in the CT room.

She ended up crying the entire time the nurse was in the room with us, making it really hard to brag on Charlotte and all her milestones!  We cried through the taking of weight and height too, here are her new stats:  26 pounds in the 45th percentile (up from the 25%)  and 2 feet 9 inches in the 75 % (down from 85%)

Once the nurse left us alone, Charlotte calmed down and we played some games and read some books.  However, when the doctor came back in... tears again!  More here than ever, I saw how Charlotte was just like her momma - the more I cry, the more my face gets all red and white and splotchy, C's did the exact same thing!!   More crying through the talking, but we were able to go over all the important things.  Charlotte is doing wonderful with her vocabulary, motor skills, eating, growing and thriving!!   He did advise us to start her on some vitamins, so that's a new thing, but that's about it, just keep on keeping on.

As far as the concussion goes, he reiterated all the same things that the ER doc said - over the next 2 weeks we may still see signs of the concussion.  If any of them last longer than or happen often past a 10 minute period, we'll need to contact the doctor.  He assured me that it is very rare that anything else will happen, but you want to keep watch cause there is always a story about someone who thought they were fine and a week or two later something happens.

The next update on this topic won't be until her 3 YEAR appointment! Can you believe...

I'll leave you with a picture of my 2 year old from a couple days ago eating one of her first PBJ sandwiches!  Doesn't she look so very very grown up!