Bowling!

     Saturday, July 28, 2012 we went BOWLING! We had so much fun! Both the girls LOVED going bowling. They were adorable! Charlotte couldn't stand it if we tried to help her (or take our own turns!) and Olivia felt so special when we let her roll the ball down the alley.  This is definitely something we're going to have to do more often as the girls grow up! I think we may have some professional bowlers on our hands!

Charlotte is so happy!

Daddy and his girls at the alley

Olivia pushing the ball down the lane

Daddy and Liv - that is ketchup on her face!

Craig bowled an amazing game!

Charlotte is so independent!

Charlotte was my lucky charm! I've never bowled such a great game!

Ketchup

We're finally getting to play "catch-up" with the blog. A lot has happened since we lived in Tifton, GA! Craig applied for and accepted a position which put us right back in Lonoke, AR! We were able to purchase the house of his parents and we are finally getting settled! The girls are loving our new home and we are settling right into a routine and life is as good as it gets!

The best part of moving home is how close we are to family! Speaking of family, we are going to have another addition to our little family! Baby number 3 is due in January, so that might mean some additions to our new little house! Or Craig might need to find a new office!

Aunt Michelle moved back to Arkansas also and we have been able to spend some time with her which is nice because the girls love her! One thing we have done with Aunt Michelle is go to the zoo. We went in June of 2012 and the Friday we went, Arkansas made a record high of 104! We drank a lot of water, and despite the heat had a great time:



Auntie Michelle and Char at the penguins.

Feeding the fish (Char's favorite!)

Char at the penguins

She likes to throw in one pebble at a time.

I have seen Charlotte come in and out of the terrible two's. One day she will be happy to please and the next she wants to test. I love watching her learn and grow, and she is so independent! She has told me "I want a Barbie birthday in September". She will get it!



Beautiful, but naughty

Gramma gave her a slide and she LOVES it

She is practicing swinging by herself!

The mosquito's were so bad this year! That is calimine!

I took her swimming!

Daddy pushing his girl

Caught her!

Caught her again!

Olivia Rose is such a sweet girl. She is so happy to snuggle or to play or to try and catch up to whatever Charlotte is doing! She is happiest when she isn't being told no, which is a lot of the time. She sleeps so well at night and is usually happy to do anything or go anywhere!

big blue eyes

I took her swimming!

Being back in Lonoke has brought good times for us. Craig worked at the Farmer's Market like he used to do and I think it was a humbling experience for him. We got to come and see him and have lunch with him and it was a real treat for everybody.  Especially Charlotte who got to go behind the counter and help!

Charlie helping daddy

Lonoke hosted a fishing derby for children under 12! They stocked the ponds full of catfish and then starved them so the kids could have an easy fishing experience. We baited our hooks with shrimp and the fish were suckers for it! We had a really fun time.

Char is reeling one in!

Family Fishing

They love their daddy!

He is so handsome!

One thing we like to do in the evenings is have a pizza night! We make our own home made pizzas and the girls have a great time with it! Even Olivia enjoys decorating her pizza with cheese and peperoni's amidst eating everything!

PIZZA NIGHT

Living close to family means Uncle Cory dropping by to visit the girls or drop off some home made tomato relish for Craig. We love it when Uncle Cory stops by! It is a real treat to see his smiling face. And the girls LOVE their Uncle Cory!

Reading to his nieces

Tifton, GA

Craig, the girls and I have made it to Tifton, GA! We really like it here so far, and are taking it one day at a time in the hotel! We've been searching for a house, and meeting new friends.

Thursday, Sept. 8 I took Charlotte and Olivia to "Wilders World." It's an emporium of inflatables where the kids can jump, climb and slide. Charlotte played non stop for 2 hours (and still fought nap-time)!

We are going to head back to Sebring, FL tomorrow to empty out Craig's storage unit. He left a lot of chemicals since the movers aren't qualified to handle them. We're also looking forward to seeing all the friends we've made there in the past year. We've been so blessed to have met so many great people and I know this isn't going to be the last of many of these friendships!

Olivia is growing in leaps and bounds! She's 12 weeks old finally and doing really well in the bumbo! Because we're in the car so much I feel like I haven't had a lot of time to work with her on tummy time, so she hasn't rolled over yet or anything, but I'm not going to worry yet, we've just been on the move so much and our whole worlds have been turned upside down. She's such a happy girl and absolutely loves it when I "get" her - it makes her squeal with laughter!

There are so many things coming up that we're excited for! Charlotte will be turning 2 in just a couple weeks and this will start the holiday cycle with Halloween just around the corner and then we'll be coming home to Arkansas for Thanksgiving and Christmas! I can not wait to get my sweet Charlotte around her cousins! She's been talking so much and developing so many relationships, I hate to think we live states away and she's missing out on the valuable familial relationships she could be forming if we lived in Arkansas! We will get back there one day!

But for today, we will just have to find a place to live and get familiar with Georgia! It is a beautiful state and we've already met many great people I know we'll become fast friends with! We're so blessed for our family, with Craig's job and all the opportunities we've been given! I've never been happier in all my life!

Updates for June, 2011

     Olivia is finally one month old. She's not completely sleeping through the night, but I'm definitely not sleep deprived throughout the day. As far as my ability to cope with two children as opposed to one goes: I thought I'd have more patience with Charlotte. As it turns out, I feel like I'm getting on to her for absolutely every little thing that she does instead of letting her be the wild child she just naturally is. I've decided I'm going to lay off a bit, if not for her own self esteem, but for my sanity, too. Not too much has happened in the past month. We're all still trying to find a routine that we can all fit in, which will be difficult since Olivia's schedule has already changed a lot.

     While my in-law's were here, we did a lot of fun stuff. We went to Sam's Club and bought a lot of good stuff that you can't get at walmart! We also bought some flowers from Grandma Ray, which we let Charlotte pick out. She loves the color purple! We also went to the Eagle Ridge Mall a couple hours from my house which has a carousal that Charlotte went on with her papa. She wasn't too sure about it! They also had a few other little toys she played on, but she wasn't real happy to be on them, until the very end! Oma and papa had a swimming pool at their condo that Charlotte got to swim at, and she loved that!

     In Sebring, there is a great children's museum that Oma and Papa took Charlotte to one day. They had different stations set up so she could experience different facets of life, i.e. she got to pretend she was a doctor. At another station she got to drive a race car and a truck and at another station she got to pretend to go shopping, ring up her groceries and make change. It inspired me to open her piggy bank and start working on our different types of currency and the importance of saving change. So far she has loved finding change and putting it in her piggy bank, hopefully this is a behavior we can get to stick!

     Olivia is still such a peaceful baby. She's happy 99% of the time and really doesn't complain if I have to put her down. She still sleeps quite a lot and doesn't seem to have any night/day confusion. I feel extremely fortunate for my situation, I know it could be a lot worse! Though it is still very stressful to balance the needs of two different children, I think this is something I'll be able to manage and grow from. Friday, June 10, Daddy and papa went deep sea fishing, so Debbie and I got to spend a little time together. We did plenty of relaxing and got some ice cream! As it turns out, while they were deep sea fishing, Craig caught a hogfish which is a rare rod and reel catch and became the spot light of the fishing trip.

     Craig and Charlotte have gotten to spend more time together lately which is great because they're so much alike. I always knew they would be buddies: Charlotte is such a daddy's girl and Craig loves the age that she's at. Other than the tantrums, fits and strong willed nature of her, she is at an age that's so much fun since she's starting to think outside the box and outside of what we're telling her. She's so smart and I'm so impressed with how much she knows without me telling her. Craig and Charlotte love to go four wheeler riding, and their newest game time is playing with the water hose outside:

     Not much has been happening with us with all our changes, but we're missing a lot back home. Our niece Kayla has been going to camps and learning and growing, and Uncle Ross has gotten back home from his mission. My little sister is about to turn 9 (And can you believe my older brother just turned 27?). My cousin Matt just married a beautiful woman, Ashley and we missed their wedding. We love that we are able to grow together as a family as we're forced to face daily situations without the influence of our families, but we're missing out on so much, too. We're definitely looking forward to Thanksgiving when we can get everybody together again, Charlotte needs to know her cousins and we're looking forward to seeing our families again!

One Week Later

     We're officially out one week from having Olivia and the adjustments have been cake! Olivia is a sweet little spirit who LOVES to sleep. She's already almost sleeping through the night, and when she wakes up hungry, I'd never know it if I didn't randomly wake up to find her with mouth open wide like a baby bird looking for mothers milk! She will get a little squeeky of she goes too long, but generally she is a very 'at peace' baby.

     Charlotte has absolutely loved having a little sister. She won't say "Olivia" but instead just calls her "sister". She loves to get real close to her and give her all kinds of love! Olivia will be very strong one day!

     Craig and I have absolutely loved having a second girl and you can see what a proud daddy he is in these pictures. Sunday, May 29, 2011 was Craig's 27th birthday. While he took Charlotte (and the whole family across the street), I stayed at home with Olivia and "rested". And by "rested" I mean, Olivia and I went shopping while Daddy was finally away and bought the stuff to make his favorite meal: Enchiladas, rice and birthday cake! Of course the number 2 candle had to break while I was removing it from its packaging, but that didn't stop the cake from being so delicious. Craig got a Yoohoo, and a package of Oreo cookies for his brithday from the girls and myself, but he got a lot more than that from getting to spend the rest of the day with his girls!



Daddy and the girls blow out the candle!





Proud Daddy on his birthday

     We've gotten to spend a lot of time together this past week as a family. One thing everybody loves to do, is snuggle with daddy on the couch. The girls really love it, especially Charlotte, she is such a daddy's girl!

Daddy and his girls snuggle on the couch

Pretty Olivia sleeping next to her daddy

     Charlotte, Olivia and I are still working on getting into a routine, but I think we're getting pretty close. We've even started a morning walk like Charlotte and I used to do. If we can just keep it up, I know we'll all get in sync before we know it! I know Shiner really appreciated being walked! Our poor dog has felt so left out since we brought Charlotte home, and now we have Olivia so I think he's really depressed!

Family Walk!