Seeing Santa

Craig dressed Charley up in one of her Christmas outfits and brought her to the Mill where we were having our Holiday Expo for Priss and Grits.  She was a little skeptical of Santa, so Momma and Daddy went with her.  However, she was clear in letting him know what she wanted this year (please imagine these words being said in the most adorable, matter-of-fact voice), “a baby doll, a princess Barbie and a castle!”

2 Years 9 Months Old

Busy, Busy, Busy is the only way to describe these past few months.  Here are some iPhone pics from the last three months.

Helping Momma make Banana Pudding

Swimming in the bath

Seeing the new kangaroo exhibit at the zoo

Amma sent me this picture...Granddad Mike braided and fixed her hair!

Helping make dinner!

Yep...she fell asleep applying lipstick!

Snow White helping Momma put up the Christmas tree.

Our Christmas tree has never looked better thanks to such good help!

Gentry Farms - Guest Blog by Daddy

I’m pretty excited to make my first ever guest appearance in Charley’s blog. Jess has done such an amazing job keeping up with Charley’s blog over the past two-and-a-half years and I am so thankful and blessed that she has been so on top of these blogs.

Every couple months or so, I have the opportunity to take a day off of work and hang out with Charley. It’s our “daddy/Charley day” and it’s so much fun for me to get to spend the time that I usually spend at work playing with Charley. This particular “daddy/Charley day” was by far my favorite yet.

We typically all go to Gentry’s Farm every year, but we hadn’t had the chance to go this year and Jess gave me the green light to take Charley under one condition, I get a picture of Charley with the classic truck. After a crazy morning trying to get us both ready (which I have to admit, Jess does a much better job than I do), we headed to Gentry’s Farm.

Once we got to Gentry’s Farm we headed straight to the classic truck to get a picture. We got both sides of the truck, but my favorite picture ended up being the last one I took with my phone. We immediately went to the animals. We saw chickens, turkeys, and sheep. We went through the little kids maze (about 3 times), took pictures at the “how tall this fall”, and went down slides over and over. Then we headed straight to the hayride. Of course, Charley had to pee before getting on the hayride and we did our first ever pee in a porta-potty. I was disgusted, but Charley did great. She was a little weary of the hayride at first, but after we got going and counted all the cows she loosened up big time and ended up having a blast.

The last thing to do on our way out was grab some pumpkins. We got two pumpkins and headed to Chuy’s. We had a delicious meal and since Charley ate all her beans we stopped by Sweet CeCe’s for a little treat before heading home.

After all the fun we had that day, Charley hit the couch and took an almost two hour nap. We jam packed a ton of fun into one day and I can’t wait for the next “daddy/Charley day”.

Princess Belle on Halloween

After getting the Belle dress for Charley to wear to Beauty and the Beast, we decided to get another wear out of it for Halloween.  Of course after she saw all of the princesses at Amma’s Trunk or Treat with a crown, that was a must add accessory to her costume.  (In my defense, Belle doesn’t wear a crown or I would have already had one!)  Charley got to dress up for school and when we went trick or treating with the Artley’s.  A storm moved the Mount Juliet trick or treating back one night, so Amma couldn’t stay and go with us.  Charley and Sam, aka Peter Pan, had so much fun together, like always.  Charley’s special buddy for the night was Rachel, and she refused to hold anyone else’s hand all night...I couldn’t even get her to take a picture with me!  I am seriously wondering where she gets her strong will?  I think I know the answer to that...it must be her Daddy! :) haha

I've always said that craft projects would be at Ray-Ray’s house, after all she is an art teacher, but some how I caved and let Charley paint pumpkins at our kitchen table.  She LOVED it!!!  She painted and painted and painted!  Craig only got two pumpkins at the pumpkin patch, so I think Granddaddy Charlie had a little something to do with the endless supply of pumpkins for Charley to paint!  She did great at first allowing me to wash her brush before she changed colors, but it didn’t take long for every paint pot to be a muddy brown mixture from all of the colors.  

Happy Halloween!

Trunk or Treat with Amma and Granddad Mike

Well Amma finally got her wish of having Charley in Kentucky for Trunk or Treat.  I am sure we were going somewhere or doing something, which ended up being the perfect time for Charley to stay an extra day in Benton.  Amma said Charley had the best time with all of her friends from Tick Tock (Bible class), got lots of yummy candy, held hands with her Best Friend Molly, and played until she dropped.  She also took pictures with all of the kids, posed with the different trunks and got a special picture with her friend, Miss Gwen.  I’m sure Amma and Granddad Mike enjoyed it as much or more than she did!

Night Night, Sleep Tight

When it came to being a new Momma, there really weren’t a whole lot of things that I was a stickler about, except for Charley sleeping in her own bed from the get go.  As far as sleeping goes, I am NOT a good sleeper.  It takes forever for my brain to shut down, I hear EVERYTHING and Craig snores like a freight train.  Being sleep deprived was/is my biggest concern about parenthood, so the last thing I wanted was for Charley to be in our room or bed, get used to being there and never leave.   I hear stories of people that opt for the “family bed” and though it may be sweet to cuddle and snuggle, it sounds more like a living nightmare to me!  Some how I just blinked and we have gone from Charley sleeping in her crib, in her car seat in her crib, lowering the crib, rocking and re-rocking to put her to sleep, singing numerous verses of the “I Love You” song, to going to bed awake with kissies in the bed after watching just a little bit of TV with our ritual good night’s, all the while keeping her in her crib.  I know she is a big girl in so many ways, but using the crib this long was the last way to keep her a baby.  She does so many things on her own these days only allowing us to assist occasionally, but as much as I love seeing her grow and become independent, I secretly loved that she needed us (literally) to put her to bed and get her up each morning. 

I should probably confess that I am on an airplane home from Denver right now, and I am a little tearful.  Maybe it’s because tonight is the eve of transforming her “nursery” into a big girl room, but knowing my baby girl is growing up so quickly has me a tad emotional!

She may not be a baby anymore, but there are a few things that I can guarantee won’t change regardless of the bed size….

1. Mr. Cat (hospital gift from Granny Martha and Granddaddy Charlie), Pluto (aka Pueto pronounced with Hispanic flare), Sofia and Clover will continue to snuggle with her every night.  To be exact, one of her bedtime friends will be on the “other side” in case she wants to turn over….her words!

2. Kissies in the bed….given in the order in which she requests depending on who is present at bedtime.

3. Special Momma/Charley chat that goes like this:

Me, “what are you Mommy’s?”

Charley, “sweetheart”

Me, “and…?”

Charley, “I…LOVE…YOU!!!” (ahh, it melts my heart!)

4. On-going dialog of “good night Princess, I love you, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite, sweet dreams” that goes back and forth until we finally close the door.

5. Night time prayers…some times long or short depending on her mood or how sleepy she is that night.

So far, so good in the new room.  I was super worried she would be out of her bed before morning on the first night, but she actually waits until we go in and get her in the morning before getting out of bed...hallelujah!!!!  She says, “I doing what I supposed to do!”  After about a month of sleeping in her big girl bed, Charley gave me a tour of her room...after refreshing her lip stick, of course.