Here Comes Santa

Charlotte Anne met Santa today. After looking at some of the pictures of me when I was her age, I thought we would never get a picture. I cried in every photo until I was about 6. I was so nervous about how this would go that I make my mom go with me as reinforcement. Well, as you can see, CA had no problem sitting on some random persons lap. She looked at him, looked at me, looked at mimi and then started playing with her new toy. Maybe we found the first benefit to going back to work at 5 weeks... my child can be passed to just about anyone and she is ok. :) MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone... what a fun way to start the season!!

The Cabin

After Thanksgiving, we went to the Coleman's cabin for a few days to hunt, hangout and relax!! Yea for great friends that are so generous. We forgot socks for CA, so she wore L's gloves on her feet! I also didn't have the baby bjorn... though I'm not sure she would fit into it anyways... so, I just wrapped her in my vest and she could sit there without me really having to hold her. Sometimes laziness and forgetfulness inspire some great ideas!

The land is beautiful and I feel relaxed for the first time in about 2 months.

Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving at Luke's parent's farm in Calera. It was a great time getting to see everyone for a few hours while we celebrated Turkey day! The food was delicious, the dogs were spoiled rotten with Thanksgiving leftovers and Charlotte Anne ate her first real meat (the liquid baby food stuff just doesn't count). I didn't know if she would be able to chew and swallow it, but there was no stopping her. She loved the squash casserole, broccoli and rice casserole, pumpkin crisp and turkey!!

Giving Thanks

What a crazy year this has been - stressful, exciting, full of activity and so so so much to be thankful for each day! We have been talking a lot about what we have been thankful for in our life - the obvious things came up... a beautiful daughter, a sovereign Lord, a loving marriage, healthy family, supportive friends. So, we tried to be more specific and pick actual moments or specific things that we are thankful for.... here is L and my combined list in no particular order...

1. The way Charlotte Anne gets excited when you walk in her room after a nap - no drug could recreate the feeling it gives you

2. Don Juan's snuggle on the couch

3. Swanky - Made top 3 thing we miss about Memphis. I would pay about $50 for that fish taco right now

4. Watching CA pick up her little snacks. She is so careful and delicate - total opposite from her mom and dad that shovel our entire dinner in about 5 minutes

5. Lake Martin - not sure if it is the food, family, friends, water, peace of mind, dark rooms, proximity to Auburn or what... but that place is amazing

6. Good WiFi - we understand a bad connection and are now making that our #1 priority at the new house

7. Osa's protecting CA's dirty diapers. She will bite any animal that gets within 5 feet of the diapers.

8. Books (all mine). I love to read. I will finish 21 books this year - down from 37 in 2010.

9. Duck - L loves to kill them, I love to cook them. As L says, "If it flies... it dies..."

10. Healthy feet, knees, legs - we don't deserve them because we have used and abused them since childhood, but we are so thankful to be able to train for these races without any aches or pains.

11. Doggy Door - the best invention on Earth

12. Smocked Clothes - completely addictive

13. Spanish - we have benefited so much by speaking 2 languages. We have to figure out a good and sustainably way to get CA speaking Spanish while she is young.

14. Good co-workers. Bad ones ruin your week, good ones make work fun.

15. Renewed strength each day. This past year has really tested our ability to stay sane. Baby, move, new job, new work environment, new house... it can get really overwhelming, really fast. However, we serve a Lord that makes each day new. What a tremendous blessing!

9 months old!

Charlotte Anne is 9 months old!! What a fun time we have had watching her grow. She has the cutest, bubbliest personality - loving to make us laugh! She has funny little facial expressions - acting surprised and coy are her newest looks. She has turned into my little cuddle bug - thank goodness because it is awesome to have her nuzzle up in our necks! Charlotte is a grunter - always getting louder the more I laugh... a habit I need to stop asap. She is in the 90-97% on weight, height and head size - wearing 12 month clothes... a little big, but not for long! She has my feet - poor baby - so, she will probably be in woman's sizes by age 3. :) We are so blessed to have Charlotte Anne as a daughter. She has taught us so much already and we can't wait to learn along side her as she grows!!

Fort Payne

Every year L's grandmother takes the Arendall family to Fort Payne for a weekend hiking and enjoying the beautiful scenery. This was Charlotte Anne's first year and she had a blast playing with everyone. D-daddy put her on a bike for the first time. She was completely clueless, but it was cute!
My mom got her another cute holiday bow... a feathery turkey to match her outfit! She looked so adorable until she ate the feathers off the bow. Now, it looks more like a dead turkey!

The Arendall girls

Hula Hoop

I have found my new favorite activity - hula hooping! I am pretty sure that I haven't attempted a hula hooping in about 20 years, but it was awesome. Thanks Sue for letting us borrow yours for a fun Saturday! Now I am off to get my own - and not the Walmart kind - but the official hula hoop. Maybe after almost 30 years, I have finally found my hidden talent??!!

Decisions

Since the new house is 100% ours and the rental is getting crappier by the day, we have aggressively begun fixing up the new house so we can move in asap! We originally thought we would wait until Feb when our rental contract is up; however, the thought of staying here much longer is too depressing!

That means that we have had to make rapid fire decisions for the new house - new plumbing fixtures, new lighting, paint, carpet, granite, fabric... whew! I would say that I am a quick and decisive decision maker, but this can be really overwhelming. I feel like I have 2 full time jobs now... I work for IP all day and moonlight as a decorator/contractor. :) Thankfully L is great at all of this, so we have been tag teaming most everything.

Overall, we are super excited and can't wait to really make this house our home.

Ragnar - We did it!

Our team is crossing the finish line in Nashville!

We did it - 196 miles from Chattanooga to Nashville in 27ish hours. Go team Overconfident and Undertrained!! We met some awesome people - thanks Dallas family for getting us hooked up! This is one thing I thought we would cross off the bucket list and vow never ever to do it again. However, as everyone said, it is completely addicting! You run a lot, drive a lot, wait a lot, sleep a little (or none) and yet it is a blast!

You can see how foggy it was outside. I could only see about 6 feet in front of me - a little scary for my first ever night run

Luke getting ready for Brian to arrive, so he can start his 6.6 mile leg!

It was so cold - I'm going to say freezing. I think that L and I just weren't use to the cold mountain air from around Chattanooga. burrr. L was the runner right before me in the relay, so every time he passed the slap bracelet (yep, hello 1990!) off to me, he also passed the earmuffs and gloves!! :) Most of our team was from Memphis, but we had people as far away as Washington state. If I ever sorta thought I was a 'runner'... I quickly learned that I am no such thing compared to the rest of the team. However, I tried my best and ran one of my 5.5 mile legs at a 8:33 / mile pace - my personal best!! Luke is speedy, so we won't mention how great he did.

The only downside was that with both Luke and I running... we drove from Bham to Chattanooga and then ran to Nashville. So, our car was still in Chattanooga. Ooopps. So, we rented a car to drive back to get our car and drove back to Bham after the race. I should really say that we did all of that after only about 3 hours of sleep in 48 hours. We barely made it - thanks for a great husband that somehow can drive completely exhausted!

Overall, this was such a fun experience. We recommend it to anyone looking for something a little different with a group of awesome people!

Jail Break

Charlotte Anne is now mobile. So, we had to baby proof every thing almost overnight. The first step - lifting the latch on the crib so this little monkey doesn't climb out!! The normal routine... she wakes up, sits up and piles everything around her into a little area in the crib. Thankfully, she can entertain herself for about 15 minutes in the crib before she has had enough (just enough time for me to get the coffee made and have one gigantic sip before the day begins).

She is crawling about 5 feet at a time, but has a very efficient roll / crawl / bunny hop combo that pretty much allows her to get anywhere she pleases. Her favorite spot to hang out - under her jumper or exersaucer. She just hangs out there and looks at her book. Probably a little dangerous, but super cute!

Tigger

Happy Halloween!!!

Charlotte Anne had a great first Halloween. She loved her little Tigger outfit (picked by Luke, of course!!). It was a last minute by on the $8 rack, but it couldn't have been more perfect!! Not quite the year for trick-or-treating, but she went to our home closing completely dressed in her costume!! :)

Clap your Hands

Luke and I went to Babies-R-Us yesterday to buy a Christmas gift and the only thing we walked out with was a talking dog for Charlotte Anne. I know... the Newells definitely don't need more dogs. But this one was sooo cute. More importantly, it danced, wiggled and sang songs. Since I don't know the words to one completely nursery rhyme... we had to get the dog. I think it was for me as much as it was for Charlotte Anne.

Well, once we started.... all of the songs came back to me. I mean, they really came back and I couldn't get them out of my head for 24 hours. I think I sang "If you are happy and you know it, clap you hands" to CA 100 times. Though I was driving everyone crazy, Charlotte Anne loved it and she started clapping on her own!! Yea!! It is so cute because she claps and then looks at me to react. :) Such a fun and sweet little baby!!

Pre - Ragnar

http://www.ragnarrelay.com/race/tennessee (Ragnar TN link)

Luke joined a team from Memphis to run the 190ish miles from Chattanooga to Nashville this upcoming weekend (Don't worry, he only runs about 18-20 miles of it!!). Basically, what happens is you take turns running the 190 miles, relay style. There are 12 runners per team and the people that aren't running their leg are all in a van together. At first, I said that there was no way I would do anything like that. Then, as the weeks went on, I was a little jealous that Luke was getting to do this really amazing relay race across 1/2 of Tennessee.

Well, yesterday we found out that one of Luke's teammate got hurt. And not to celebrate anyone's pain, BUT that meant that they needed a runner asap. AND... who doesn't have anything better to do??? ME! I'm not fast, but I can do the distance. I will probably bring the team's average down, but I'll just pretend like they were desperate and I was there last option! So, that means that this Friday and Saturday we will be running a combined 30-40 miles of beautiful land between Chattanooga and Nashville!! I will take tons of pics and try to keep posting as we go... if I am not dying in the van!!

Wish us luck!! First real race post baby. First real race to prepare us for Cruce de los Andes!!

VHHS Homecoming

Charlotte Anne loves watching her cousin, Hannah, at the VHHS pepralli!!!!

Sushi

Brazil is a really beautiful country... famous for the beaches, the beautiful people, the Amazon, and Carnival. Unfortunately, none of these things are in Sao Paulo. None. Sao Paulo has roughly 17 million people - I think the 5th largest city in the world. If you ask just about anyone around what you should do in the city... they say eat. The food here is incredible. Pizza, Sushi, Real Chinese, Brazilian BBQ, Argentine meats, fresh fish, fresh fruits... really anything you can think of from around the world... they make it (and usually make it better) in Sao Paulo.

I have had the best sushi and sashimi while here. The restaurant we went for lunch served the food right on the table. It just kept coming too. Work travel is hard, so you have to look for the little happies throughout the day. Sadly, most of my "happies" evolve around breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Bed Time in Brazil

I am in Brazil this week for work and it is amazing that I still get to wish my sweet little girl good night. Praise the Lord for technology and how much it helps keep us in touch when we are all over the world. Charlotte Anne and daddy are singing me a good night song called "mama". Too sweet! I actually showed a customer the video - probably inappropriate, but the girls in the office loved it.... especially her Elvis hairdo.

Pig Iron

So, it definitely wasn't Memphis in May, but it was still a lot of fun. We went to a night of BBQ and kid activities supporting Children's Hospital. L's new company had a booth with live music and handing out hot dogs to the kiddos. It was the first really cold night we have had this season. I wasn't really sure what to do with Charlotte Anne because she wouldn't snuggle up like I had planned in her stroller with lots of blankets. She was too mesmerised by all of the people, music and activity. I have to say that she, once again, surprised me and did great. She is going to be my little social butterfly.

We are just so thankful to be feeling at home in our new city. We still miss Memphis, but we are learning to really love Birmingham. It is so different than the city we left and we are excited to put roots here!

Crackers

We are learning to eat crackers. Charlotte Anne loves it. The dogs love it because they eat about 90% of the cracker that falls on the floor. After only a few days, she had really started getting the hang of it! We even gave her one at a restaurant. We use to hate those parents that knowingly let their kids make a mess at a restaurant. Now, I totally get it and I am on board. Each cracker buys us about 10 minutes of entertainment.

Now that Charlotte Anne has most of one tooth in, she can really get into it! I can't imagine what life will be like with lots of little teeth to munch on everything!

8 months old

Our baby is already 8 months old! She is so full of life now - laughing, moving around, loving to play and sleeping so well.

Top 10 of having an 8 month old:

10. Solid foods mean less bottles to clean

9. Solid foods mean more poopies to clean

8. She definitely knows her name now

7. She lights up when you walk in the room after a long nap

6. She loves green beans, peas, squash and avocados. Not so hot for apples or berries.

5. She could watch BabyTV all day, every day. Horrible temptation for mommy and daddy.

4. She can go in the stroller without the infant adapter. And she LOVES the stroller.

3. She can say "mama", "baba", and "oooo". Sorry, L, no "dada" yet.

2. All crying stops when she sees a ceiling fan

1. Bath time is awesome. She loves the water, doesn't mind the soap, and loves to play in the tub!

1st AU game

What a fabulous day on the plains! It was Charlotte Anne's 2nd time to Auburn - 1st time to the game. For the first time in a while, we really had no idea how she would react. The good news is that she did GREAT!!

The day started with an awesome brunch with some of the best people. Not that we ever forget - but all Luke and I could do was talk about how lucky we are to have such great friends! The group dynamics have changed as we have gotten older. Adults still out number kids, so we haven't lost the battle yet. :) Big thanks to Bo & Molly! We love the house by the way!!

Luke was determined to park far enough away to avoid traffic after the game. I guess in a town like Auburn you can never really get too far away.... but we did park about 1/3 mile past Momma Gs away from the stadium. Though I really do want to complain, his plan was perfect and we got out of Auburn without any traffic at all.

We made our way to tiger walk (where I changed a stinky diaper, holla!) and did a little tailgating. Man, I really love Auburn. We got into the game - with a ticket for an 8 month old. We were a little short for space when we got to our seats, but at least they were good seats. CA played a little, slept a little, ate a little and squirmed a little. She wasn't scared by the yelling or the music... she just watched everything that was going on. I think it helped to have some familiar faces around - yea for the Clays!

I had already decided that the day was a huge success and then the best part happened... Auburn won!! War Eagle!! 17-6 over Florida! 5-2 for the year. No too bad Tigers!!!

I doubt we will make it back to another game this year, but we will never forget Charlotte Anne's first Auburn game!!

Maids

Osa calmly waiting for Charlotte Anne to drop some food.

And when I say "drop", I mean, if CA moves anywhere other than her mouth.

We have the best housekeepers alive. They come in a group of three and they clean everything. Occasionally one of them will leave some mess behind, but the others are there to pick up the slack. Charlotte Anne can't even get finished eating without them picking up the crumbs. Even if they think she might drop something in the future- they mitigate risk by snatching it up before the mess can occur.

Don Juan and Osa "cleaning" the high chair

On top of everything else, Charlotte Anne has really bonded with these three. She has talked them into eating the stuff she doesn't like... prunes and apples. They even take her socks off her and give her a "pre bath" almost every day. Live in help is the best!

I love my life

Cousins

I know that Charlotte Anne can't process much yet, but there is no doubt that she is mezmorized by her cousin Emy. I don't fully get it because I don't have any cousins - not a single one. But, I guess it is a lot like a sibling... especially for Charlotte Anne who loves anyone ages 18 mo - 10. After that... she takes time to warm up to you. Thank goodness for such great cousins on both the Chandler and Newell sides!!

Last night Emy was "teaching" Charlotte Anne about Baby Einstin. When an apple would come across the screen, she was say "apple". It was adorable. CA has no idea how fun it is going to be in a few months when she has so many built-in play mates!

Mimi bought them matching outfits!

Books

Charlotte Anne loves books. Don't burst my bubble if every kid in America likes books because I like to think that something about her is like me.

I could offer her anything and she would choose a book instead. She only flips the pages and chews on them, but it is a start! I can even get her to sit still for about 5 minutes while I read to her. Since Luke has read 1 book (not counting devotionals) that wasn't required in high school or college, this is a HUGE deal. We might have a little book worm!

In Luke's defense - sort of - he has graduated to books on tape. I am trying to slowly ease him into reading. Every time we finished a book on tape he loves it. Why does he think actually reading would be different??!!?? I realize that my reading is a bit extreme, but I am determined that Charlotte Anne will at least surpass her dad and finish 2 books outside of school by the time she is 30.

She Accepted

We think we just bought a house.

We have been looking for the past few months and finally found something that met our criteria: big yard for our dogs to play, house with room for our family to grow, good school system and something affordable. It wasn't easy - Bham is full of homes with almost zero lot lines or homes that are perfect for our family of 3 1/2 (the dogs have to count for at least 1/2 a person) or homes that were built for a Duggar-size family. However, we found a house that met 3 of our 4 criteria.... the only problem... not cheap. So, we low-balled an offer. I mean, way lower than asking.

The house had been on the market for 3 months with (we think) no offers. Then, of course, another offer was sent the same day as ours. We had pretty much given up because we aren't in a position for a pricing war. In fact, we won't budge much on our offer. We had one thing on our side - our offer wasn't contingent on selling another house. Praise the Lord!! Regardless, we had kinda written it off. Two days later, to our surprise, the lady countered our offer. We were excited that we were still in the game, but we couldn't really meet her anywhere on the price. So, we just kept offering our low price. I guess Luke wore her out because she finally accepted. Part of me thinks it was all just a huge game and we were so caught up in it... because about 12 hours after we signed the paperwork, we realized that we now had to actually buy this thing. :) Kidding aside, it is a great house in a great area and we are really excited!! It needs work - mostly aesthetic... since the overall vibe is 1995. :)

With all that being said - we should be moved in by Christmas!! Woo Hoo!!! No more terrible rental!!!! As soon as we are all moved in, we expect some of our Memphis friends to visit!!! You will always have a place to stay in Bham!!

Wanted to plug our very awesome real estate agent, Judy Beaton. Anyone looking in the extended Bham area should look her up! She was great at listening to what we wanted and helping us find the perfect house!

Happy October!!

HAPPY OCTOBER!! How can it already be October - what happened to 2011??!!?? It was the perfect start to one of my favorite months. Charlotte Anne woke up in a great mood - ready for torture via smoked outfits.

Mimi and Doc came and picked us up and we ate the Original Pancake house in 5 points - so unique and fun! Then, we went to the farmer's market to get some pumpkins. It was a little early in the year and I am afraid that they will rot before Halloween, but it was still fun. Our little Charlie Bear loved looking at the pumpkins!! Yea for Fall!!

Night Bath

Ok, I finally get it. I never understood why everyone with kids had the same nigh schedule.... dinner, then baths, then bed. But tonight, I finally understood. Normally, we are morning bath takers. With all of that curly hair, we needed a good wash in order to control the crazy. I thought it was a great start to the day.

That was before Charlotte Anne could move hear arms, army twirl around the room and destroy a diaper. How can something that gross and vile come from someone so cute and sweet??? I miss the days of "asking" if she had a stinky. Now, it is asking if she had 2 or 3. Usually you don't even have to ask because you can smell it everywhere. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

So, thanks for all of the warnings that I ignored... I get it now. My cute little kid is going to get completely dirty and disgusting every day and it is my job to scrub it off each night. Today it was apple sauce and carrots in the hair, crusty something on her feet and dog slobber all over her hands. So, here's to night time sanitizing!

Go Rebels!

After 10 years, I finally went back to VHHS - Go Rebels!! I have no idea why I waited so long to go back... I think I never really had a reason. But, with my niece in the 11th grade, I was determined to get to a pep rally to watch her dance. When I pulled into the parking lot, I realized that almost nothing looked and felt the same. I got confused in the parking lot and then almost ran into a student. Thank goodness I found my sister in the lot because the "new" gym where the pep rallies didn't exist 10 years ago. I mean... the newest "old" gym was build when I was a junior. So, my new gym is now the old gym. Anyway, you get the point. I was getting a little bit overwhelmed by all of the changes, then about 1 minute into the pep rally, I realized that the important things hadn't changed a bit. The teachers still had the same speeches, each class was still dressed in this week's theme (though Harry Potter Homewood and P90X the Patriots were new!), and the small town fell was still there!

Charlotte Anne seemed to love every second of it. She did have a diaper explosion 5 minutes into the visit... Nothing like changing a very stinky and messy diaper on the floor of a high school bathroom. Thank goodness I packed a cute spare outfit - something I almost never do! Charlotte Anne even got her picture with the Rebel man! So cute! Maybe now is a bad time to say that all of the houses we are currently looking at are in Mountain Brook!

Cousins Woodson, Mac and Charlotte Anne with the Rebel Man

P90X the Patriots - Juniors Theme

My beautiful niece, Hannah!! What a fun excuse to go to a pep rally!! Charlotte Anne was in love with the pom pom! Luke's in store for a a lot of dance recitals or cheer leading contests!

Aunt Ashley with CA. How does my sister have an 11th grader?