Happy Thanksgiving!

(Grammy Charlotte and Baby Charlotte)

Happy Thanksgiving! Craig, Charlotte and I started out our Thanksgiving day at Aunt Evelyns Thanksgiving Feast! I didn't have my camera available at this point in the day, but it was so much fun. At one point we got all the babies together, plus Kayla, Callie and Ethan. It was so cute seeing them all together! Gabriel was asleep for the photo shoot as he lay between Charlotte and Hailey who were just as patient as could be throughout the whole thing. Then we added Callie and Ethan and Kayla to the photo and they were all such great little models! Ethan has really gotten big since the last time I'd seen him and he's walking and talking just like a big boy! Callie, too, seems to keep growing every time I see her!

(Grandma Gail and Baby Charlotte at Thanksgiving)

Then we went to my mothers, Grandma Gail's, for her Thanksgiving Feast! The turkey was absolutely delicious and that's when I reacquired my camera. I snapped a picture of Grandma Gail and Charlotte, but we then had to hit the road. But it was really nice to see everybody. My Aunt Cathy and Uncle John loved seeing Charlotte and playing with her which is really nice since Aunt Cathy is my Godmother. Also, my cousin's wife Heather is looking like she's ready to pop with her second, and first boy, Ethan! So Charlotte will have two second cousins named Ethan! That'll get confusing, I'm sure, but I love the name!

(The Hunter Craig and his first kill of the season, an 8 point buck)

Also, Doctrine and Covenants 75:28 states: "And again, verily I say unto you, that every 'man who is obliged to provide for his own family, let him provide, and he shall in nowise lose his crown; and let him labor in the church." ... Well that's what my man did, he provided! Craig caught/killed his first deer of the season...ya, Nina beat him to it! Craig only recently got to start going hunting because I've quit guilting him into staying with Charlotte and me. So he got an 8 point and it's a pretty good sized deer at that. He got a good shot at it with his bow and arrow and is officially the quintessential hunter/gatherer. That makes Charlotte and I pretty lucky knowing we will never go hungry so long as Craig is with us.

(The entrance wound and kill shot of Craig's first kill of the season)

So that wraps up the Thanksgiving week. We're really looking forward to next week when Craig will be on another business trip in North Carolina, so Charlotte and I will spend time with Grandma Debbie, Aunt Nina and Charlotte's cousins as well as Leah and Gabriel and also we'll spend some time in Bryant with Grandma Gail! Also the week after that the Shelton families will vacation together in Branson, MO which is really exciting because I've never been to Branson! So Craig and I have much to be Thankful for. We can be thankful for our families who are ALWAYS here for us, and being married to our soul mates and having a beautiful baby girl who always brightens our days. We are also thankful for Craig's job which provides us with the essentials such as the means to provide a roof over our heads and food on our plates (the kind of stuff Craig can't hunt down and kill) and all of our friends. So Happy Thanksgiving!

When we were sick...

(Charlotte smiling pretty for the camera, 6 weeks)

Now that Charlotte is six weeks old, I can tell the difference between her gassy smiles and her happy smiles. It's so rewarding to see her smiling up at me because she's happy. This past week has been kind of difficult on us because little Charlotte has been sick, and so have the rest of us. It all started when Craig brought home a sinus infection. Yes, these are not contagious, you're right, but somehow Craig's sinus infection turned into congestion in Charlotte and strep throat for me. Don't ask me how, but we were all sick together like a good family!

(Craig making Charlotte smile while she lays in Grandma Debbie's baby bouncer)

It's been especially difficult for little Charlotte, though. Because babies are obligatory nose breathers, and she doesn't know how to blow her nose, she's had a hard time sleeping because she can't breathe. What we do to help her breathe is spray her nose with saline and then suck out all the boogers with a suction bulb. She hates it, and we hate seeing her struggle with it, but she does always breathe so much better after we do it. I like it when Craig does it because she always smiles at him when he does it - I guess I don't do it well enough to merit a smile.

(Laila, left, inciting Shiner, right, to run around the yard - Shiner refuses to chase and must always be chased...)

Shiner's friend Laila came over to entertain him yesterday, which was really nice of Katy to do! As everybody knows, Shiner is a spoiled boxer who demands all attention. With a new baby in the house, he's just not going to get all that attention. So, luckily, Laila came to play and she wore him out. I know he appreciated that!

What a Busy Week

(On Left: Joseph Dean, Megan Dean, KC Saylor, Tricia Saylor. On Right: Craig Shelton, Jillian Shelton, John Schank, Cristi Schank)

Saturday, October 24, 2009, The Shelton Family-B hosted a pumpkin carving party. The attendees were as follows:

Joseph and Megan Dean
John and Cristi Schank
Tricia and KC Saylor

(From Left: KC Saylor, Tricia Saylor, Craig Shelton, Cristi Schank, John Schank, Joseph Dean, Megan Dean)

We had a blast. Joseph ended up winning the most original pumpkin carving contest and won a homemade pumpkin pie. I ended up making it from a can, but it really tastes the same. John carved Charlotte's pumpkin and they all ended up looking great. It was really a lot of fun. Especially when Cristi and Tricia decided to paint faces with pumpkin guts - thanks guys, that was gross! We had mulled cider, special cheese dip (recipe courtesy of Mrs. Bennet) and sugar cookies to decorate.

(On Left: Cristi Schank and her witch cookie; On Right: Craig Shelton's Frankenstein's Monster)

After the pumpkin carving party, Craig, Charlotte and I loaded up the Camry and even brought Shiner back to Lonoke. Craig had a business ordeal in North Carolina and I had a funeral to attend in Little Rock. So, upon taking Craig to the airport on Sunday night, I prepared myself for a few days of sadness.

(Charlotte Morris holding Charlotte Shelton)

It was especially nice for Charlotte to meet her great grandmother, Charlotte - the wonderful, strong woman Charlotte was named after. Her husband, Walter Morris, was the gentleman we will all miss and forever remember.

(Five-week-old Charlotte is getting better at lifting her head.)

We stayed in Little Rock to visit with everybody through the week and the weekend. That was really nice, we don't get to spend enough time with our families being so far away.

(Charlotte has started to really fill her diapers and they've started to overflow a little bit.)

(On Left: Daddy and his kitty; On Right: mommy and her kitty)

The most fun was Halloween. Charlotte was a kitty cat! She was going to be a pumpkin, but the pumpkin outfit I had for her was just too little. But she was really cute in it.

(Rachel Grantham, 7, the Rock Star)

We started off the night by going to Bryant to see Rachel. She was a Rock Star and she rocked the night. I'm sure she made a steal on some candy.

(On Left, Charlotte Shelton, 5 weeks; On Right: Hailey Shelton, 12 weeks)

Then we traveled to Lonoke to visit with Uncle Brad, Aunt Nina and Charlotte's cousins: Kayla - the vampire, Callie - the Princess, and Hailey - Winnie the Pooh. We got Charlotte and Hailey together to see if we could get them to smile at the same time. No such luck.

(Daddy and his baby girl)

It was really great to have been able to spend so much time with everybody. But Craig and I are really happy to be back home to find some kind of a routine. But we'll be back soon, we can't stay away from family for too long!

(From Left: Tricia Saylor, 26 - holding Charlotte, 4 weeks; KC Saylor, 17; Cristi Schank, 24; Megan Dean, 28)