Catch up!

So, here's my catch up post..

This was me right before Charlotte was born. Seems like yesterday, but also seems like so long ago. During this time Donald was going back and forth from Detroit to Erie every weekend while on his audition rotations for radiology (during my last trimester..). This was a weekend or two before she arrived. We were at Lake Erie letting Taterman enjoy the water, which is one of his favorite things. I had a really easy pregnancy, I don't mean I didn't suffer the normal pregnancy related things, but mostly it was very pleasant. Charlotte was as great in utero as she is now. It's funny because I'm a natural worrier, it's in my nature I guess, but whenever I would worry that I hadn't felt her kick in awhile she was always very faithful to start wiggling away right before my 'panic' mode would kick in.

Donald was in Detroit when my labor started and of course I couldn't get a hold of him right away and my great friend Melaura came with all her kiddos to take me to the doctor's office (I think Melaura was in a panic mode a little as I was doddling before going in, with her first she went very fast and apparently I wasn't quite fast enough). So on the way to the hospital I was trying to over head page Donald, call the radiology department and his cell phone. Of course he was in a procedure when it started, but luckily the residents flagged him down and then off he went 92 miles per hour to Erie. I knew Donald was going to be in Detroit when CvB was due, so I prayed the whole pregnancy that my labor would be longer than 4 hours but less than 10 and it was right around 9ish (amazing little baby she is!) Melaura was with me until Donald got to the hospital, poor thing, she was a great sub coach for labor, it wasn't a pretty sight for her!!! After about 9 ish hours she was here!

Donald, still in his work clothes with our sweet baby girl :)

Such a special little girl. Charlotte got to spend the next two weeks at home with my mom and I (Donald was still on audition rotations so he was there on the weekend). It was so nice to have my mom there, she cooked, cleaned, and pretty much did everything I needed her to do :) CvB woke up about every 1.5-2 hours at first, so my mom would wake up at around 6ish so I get get a good chunk of sleep, which was a lifesaver.

My mom, Charlotte and I

The next 3 weeks were spent in an Extended stay hotel in Detroit, MI. It was pretty bad, we were in what seemed to be a closet sized room with Donald, Charlotte, Tater and myself. It was worth it because we got to be with Donald. Marta also joined us, which was great! She also, cooked and came and got Charlotte in the mornings so I could get some sleep. It was also nice to be able to go to a room that wasn't filled with dog fur (we love Tater so much, but he is a furry beast!)

When we got back from Detroit Charlotte was 5 weeks old and that was the point when we put her in her own room to sleep, one of the better decisions we've made :) We started using a book called 'Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child' and Charlotte has been a GREAT sleeper since then.

After Donald finished all of his audition rotations (mid October) it was mostly down hill from there as far as his schedule went, so we were able to do all sorts of family fun things. We took advantage of Erie's parks, zoo, Presque Isle and many more things and just brought Charlotte along in her Baby Bjorn which she seemed to love to be in. During the cold we would bundle her all up and hit the road. Again, me being the worrier that I am would have to stop periodically to make sure she was still breathing because she was smooshed on my chest :)

At Asbury Park

Our little pea pod all snuggled up!

Moving right along, I took a trip to Oregon in the beginning of December to see family, and so everyone could meet Charlotte. She did really well on the flights....again amazing baby! She had one major shout out during our layover, I imagine her ears were hurting. I was definitely one of those moms where people were saying "I am SO glad that is not me" There wasn't anything I could do to calm her down. Other than that she was a trooper. It was on this trip where Charlotte started sucking her thumb. She was sleeping in my room at my moms house, and all of a sudden I hear this weird noise in her bed so I go to look and she's sucking away, and she hasn't stopped since. She still loves her thumbs!

My mom, sisters, Bum, Charlotte and me

I thought this was noteworthy, and that all of you pinochle players would appreciate, I got 1500 trump on my trip (that's the 2nd time I've got it..tooting my own horn:)

Bethany very proudly displaying her King!

I had a nice time with Donald's family as well. Marta threw me a lovely baby shower! It was so nice to see everyone and for everyone to get to meet Charlotte!

Charlotte got to meet Aunt Melinda for the first time, and I got to see Melinda and Craig's house for the first time. They have a lovely home in a really nice area, here we are about to go for a walk.

This was the first year we didn't go home for Christmas, also Charlotte's first Christmas, but Marta was able to come and spend Christmas with us which was really nice. We had a nice Christmas dinner, with a slightly odd Christmas Eve service :)

Our little family at Christmas time :)

On to the new year, Charlotte was around 4 months at New Years 2010 and this is how we spent a lot of our time in Erie :) We tried to make the best of the snow by bundling, and I mean bundling :) up and going out for walks. It was actually a really nice time to go walking especially at our favorite park because not many people were out. We could take Tater and let him off his leash and he would run wild and loved it.

This is a pretty good shot of the Erie 'lake effect' snow

quick family photo in the snow

Charlotte at 4ish months. By now she was rolling over from her tummy to her back and was getting more fun by the day with the more stuff she could start to do.

Into February... This was a very stressful month at our house. It was finally the month of the match, where we found out where we were going for residency. Donald got his first choice pick at Oklahoma State University Medical Center in Tulsa, OK and we are sooo proud of "Dr. Daddy".

This is Charlotte at 5 months. This is one of my all time favorite pictures of her! After the match it was really down hill. Donald had all easy rotations, a lot of the days he was home by 10 and he didn't even have to go in some days at all on some rotations. It was such a great time! We also got to know a lot of our neighbors. We were able to enjoy walks, game nights, BBQ's and all sorts of fun!

This is us out on the ice on Lake Erie, we felt very brave going out as far as we did :)

Charlotte is about 6 months old here, we are having fun at the zoo.

She has nice big cheeks!

Moving into March, Charlotte was growing and growing, it's pretty crazy how fast! She was mastering sitting up and rolling from her back to her tummy, which eventually turned into rolling around the room!

Pretty pictures with a pretty baby!

Donald and Charlotte, what a cute pair!

Donald and I color eggs every year for Easter, can't wait until Charlotte can join!

This year we had Easter at our house. Our great friends the Cranford's joined us, we had a delish ham dinner and then we had an Easter egg hunt in the front yard. I think this was one of the only years that the weather was nice enough to actually be outside on Easter. We are going to miss spending holidays with them, and miss them TONS in general as well!!

Another photo opportunity with Charlotte, and trust me there are a lot. I think she might be one of the most photographed babies in the world. She just has so many fun, cute, fascinating expressions that I have to catch them all. I also have a terrible memory so I need to get things on camera to remember them better. This picture is in our front yard in Erie. This tree she is sitting in front of was such a great tree! I think it was a flowering crab apple. It bloomed every year and had beautiful white flowers. She is holding the flowers from our little magnolia tree that was also in the front yard.

And here's the beautiful tree in bloom :)

On to May. We had a pretty busy month on May. We were getting ready for Donald to graduate medical school, garage sale, getting ready to move to Oklahoma, Donald's parents came to town, training for our 10K, and getting as much time in with friends as possible outside of packing.

I had a great first Mother's Day. We ran a 5K that morning, and it was freezing! We were getting ready to go and it started raining, we contemplated staying home, but we braved the weather. It ended up being a great time, the rain stopped but it was VERY cold. Charlotte does really well in the jogging stroller. Usually she doesn't even make a peep, sometimes she gives a little shout out, or does some sing songing which is always nice to hear while I'm jogging.

Here we are after we finished the race

Charlotte after the race. She is sooo cute!!

We finally had a garage sale. Donald had been teasing me for about 2 years because I said we were going to have one, and we finally did! It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. We got rid of a lot of stuff, and made a little bit of money in preparation for the big move.

The big sale!

We actually had a nice time under the tree during our sale. Nice and relaxing :)

After four long hard years Donald finally graduated from medical school! We are so proud of him for all his accomplishments and hard work. All that time away studying and long hours really payed off! He is now in his first year of residency in radiology still putting in long hours and working hard!! never ends :)

Donald's parents were able to come out for graduation. Charlotte was a trooper throughout the ceremony. It was long and hot, but she made it!!

Family shot, Good job Dr. Daddy!!!!

Us with Donald's parents

Now June.

Goodbye Erie...

Leaving Erie was really hard. We made such great friends that we miss dearly, and a lot of major things happened in our lives there. We both got degrees there, we got our first dog, had Miss Charlotte and countless other things. We really didn't like Erie much at first, but it really did grow into our Home and it was really hard to leave it behind. I miss it there.

Our friend Beth threw us and two other families a going away party which was really nice. Great time to see everyone for the last time.

This is my good friends Melaura and CJ, miss you guys!

Charlotte swinging and having so much fun!

This is our last picture at our house. We were making the big drive to Oklahoma that day. We were very sad. Our great friend Rachel took this picture and got up early to see us off! We miss her and her family too!

The trip to Oklahoma went pretty well. I was a little worried because Charlotte really doesn't sleep anywhere but her crib, but she did great. I actually think she did better than Taterman. We had to drive seperately which was a bummer, but Donald took Tater in the Caliber and I had Charlotte in the Yaris. We did the trip in two days, stopping in Terre Haute Indiana.

I snapped a picture of the Caliber in front of the arch in St. Louis

Charlotte and I on a pit stop, she was sitting in front with me enjoying the AC while Donald took Tater for a pit stop of his own :)

Tater was enjoying a slirp of water in the hot hot weather!!

We finally made it to the house!

We got all moved in and really like our house! 

Donald had his first Father's Day this year.  We had a good day hanging out.  Donald is such a great Daddy and husband! 

Family pic on Father's Day