One Year Older and Wiser Too!

Yesterday was Adam's 28th Birthday. We celebrated by going to a driving range with the Pattys. Adam and Dan showed off their amazing skills......while Amber and I showed off our un-amazing skills (you could also call it unskills)!Afterwards we came back to our place for cake and presents. The previous week Adam and I went out and got him some new clothes (I told him the holey clothing just had to go) so that was his main birthday present this year. I also got him some tennis rackets and balls. I just realized that last year I got him a Wii on which he can play tennis. I guess my gift this year just goes to show my lack of originality with gift buying. Regardless, we went and played tennis this morning, and it was more fun than when we play it on the Wii. He also received some great gifts from family and friends.
Please do not look at the cake too closely...the frosting has crumbs in it. Sigh...this is something I need to work on when making a cake...my ability to frost is next to none. I found the recipe for this cake back in March and had been secretly saving it for Adam's Birthday. It had Adam's favorite type of cake, with his favorite type of frosting and his favorite fruit as a filling layer. The math was simple: spice cake+cream cheese frosting+raspberries=Happy Adam.

My equation was correct! Adam loved the cake and now expects me to make it every year for his birthday. All in all, I hope he had a good birthday (he seemed to enjoy himself)! Only two more years, and I'll have to plan a big bash for birthday number 30!

An Afternoon at the Lake

We took Charlotte to Lake Erie the other day for the first time. The weather was so nice so we decided to go and enjoy it with our friends before the Cleveland winter sets in. We had a great time on the beach skipping rocks (well, I was trying to skip rocks), talking, and watching the lake. Here are some pictures from our afternoon:

Eight Weeks

Today I took Charlotte in for her eight week appointment. Time is so strange when you have a child. I feel like she's been a part of my life forever...not that she's only been around for eight weeks. On the other hand, when I think of how fast the time has passed and quickly she's growing, it makes me feel like I don't have enough time with her. She is learning so much and growing so fast. She weighed in today at 10lbs. 8.8 ounces and is 22 1/4 inches long with a 37.5 head circumference. All of the measurements are average for her age.

She also had to get her shots today. Talk about breaking a mother's heart! She got one in one leg and two in the other. I've never seen her face turn so red...they definitly hurt! She was really good though and stopped crying as soon as they were done. I think I wanted to cry more than she did. What a blessing though...it's worth the small amount of pain now, to prevent more serious pains and problems later.

I found out today that Charlotte is going to need physical therapy. She has Congenital muscular torticollis (CMT)...which is a shortened neck muscle that causes the neck to twist. Many of you may have noticed that Charlotte's head is almost always turned in the same direction in all her pictures:

I wouldn't have been concerned about it, but a friend asked me about it (Thanks Starleigh!) and mentioned that some of her friend's babies had CMT. As her neck muscles have strengthened, her head hasn't been tilted as much, but I decided to ask the doctor about it today. The doctor said that it should be easy to correct with physical therapy and that it's good that we caught it early because it can often misshape the head. So, hopefully in a while we can get her neck muscles back to normal.

Here are a few eight week pictures just for kicks!

This is for the Grandparents

I know that most of you won't find this video of Charlotte very exciting, so I mostly posted it for the grandparents.

Charlotte is trying her hardest to use that little voice of hers. She wanted to say "hi."

The Bonnie Hunt Show

I'm really not much of a TV person, but recently (by recently I mean the past week) I've become a bit obsessed with The Bonnie Hunt Show. I don't even remember why I turned on the tele between ten and eleven in the morning this past week...but I did, and now I can't stop!

I like this show for a lot of reasons, here are a few:

1. She is hilarious! I find myself laughing out loud every episode. Last night some of the jokes ran across my mind while I was falling asleep, and I had to let out a little giggle (poor Adam thought I was nuts to be laughing about nothing). Seriously though, not many television shows keep me smiling even when it's over.

2. They talk about family...A LOT! She is always asking the guests that come on her show questions about their family. It is so neat to me to see how parents helped shape their lives. Yesterday, she told one of her guest that he'll have to bring his mom the next time he comes on the show. She knows that everyone is important!

3. She has strong values and isn't afriad to share them.

4. She is down to earth in her appearance. She always looks so pretty on the show, but very natural. Her outfits are never top of the line name brands that are so expensive that I'd have to sell my right arm, leg and eyeball to afford. I mean, it looks like she buys her clothes from Old Navy or something similar.

Anyways, it's definitly a show worth checking out. You can also check out the website and see how much fun they have here.

Dry Hands

I need some suggestions. My hands have been begging for some thirst quenching lotion, but nothing I've used seems to do the trick. If you have a lotion that you absolutly love, please let me know what it is. I need something that will make my hands feel moisturized without leaving them greasy.

Thanks!

The Bathroom Bird

One day while I was using the downstairs bathroom, I heard a quiet chirp. I looked around confused and found nothing. For the past few months, this bird chirp has been the background music in my bathroom leaving me confused as to where the sounds is coming from exactly.

Well, yesterday morning I was sitting on my couch feeding Charlotte when I heard the bird...quite loudly. I had never heard the chirp from the couch before. I shrugged it off, thinking the bird must have gotten older and has a stronger voice. All of a sudden, a bird flew over my head. I jumped, startled...I mean, I really didn't expect to encounter a bird inside my home. It perched itself on the corner shelf in our living room. I let it be while I finished feeding Charlotte.

Well, trying to get the bird out was quite the challenge. I opened the front door and tried to shoo the bird in that direction by using my broom. To my disappointment, the bird flew upstairs. Ugh! Charlotte started wailing, so I tended to her instead and decided to take care of the bird later (I could hear the bird flying into windows, doors and other objects). Once I got her calmed down, I went on a hunt for the bird. I found it in my bedroom...sitting on Adam's pillow (it had also left me a nice poopy present on my comforter). The dumb bird continued to smash itself into the window. After much persuasion, I got the bird into the hallway. Since Charlotte was crying again, I closed all the doors upstairs and left the bird alone in the hall.

Once Charlotte was taking a nap on the couch, I went upstairs with my handy broom to finish the task. One problem: the bird was gone! So, my hunt began again. I found it had slipped under the door into my bedroom again. After dancing around the room, I finally got it down the hallway and back downstairs. It landed on the TV (sorry...not the best picture).

I tried to get the bird to go towards the door and as I did so, he decided he wanted to land on Charlotte instead! This did NOT make me happy. I impatiently told it to get off my baby with a push of my broom. For the next five minutes the bird flew from my living room, past the front door (it's escape) to the kitchen.This was really frustrating! Finally, he flew to his freedom out the front door. I honestly spent most of my morning trying to get the dumb bird out of my house! I really hope he doesn't find a way to get in again...

A Girl Has to Have Accessories!

While Adam's mom was here, she taught me how to make bows for Charlotte's hair. The poor baby girl didn't have a thing to wear in her hair and really needed something. It was fun making the bows, but I think it's even more fun putting them in Charlotte's hair!