Seven

You are still quick to smile and easily brought to laughter, which still brings us to tears at times.

You gasp and squeal when your dad opens the door at the end of the day, and then look at me like I just came home too.

You sometimes cry when we leave the room now, which I must admit, I secretly like.

All of this, but you are also easily frustrated (don't they say this about smart kids? :) I can't help but laugh when you make your new "mad face" (last picture, as well as many others here). I see it often, and your dad tells me that I shouldn't laugh every time because one day it may not be cute anymore. But my laughter somehow breaks through your frustration, if only for a moment.

So many new "tricks", faces, sounds.......you are so utterly, what's the word? CHARLIE. You are your own person. I know that although I hold you tight, you are truly not my own. I am grateful that the Lord's grasp will always be tighter than mine. I pray that it will feel this way to you, even when you are doing those scary things like driving a car, dating, making all sorts of decsions that I'm sure I'll wish I could make for you.I pray for you the verse, or chapter rather, that I have held as my "go to" passage for years. Psalms 139 has penetrated my heart countless times, and I pray it will yours as well.

"Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me.........you hem me in, behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.....where can I go from your Spiriti?........you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully made; Your works are wonderful. I know that full well...."

I pray that you will.

Six Months

sitting up, scooting, up on all fours attempting to crawl, laughing, squealing, gasping with excitement, saying "ma ma ma ma" when crying, and "da da da da" when happy,.....these are a few of your recent accomplishments.

You have grown to 14 lbs and 27 1/2 inches (6 month appt.).

Many have called you endearing, and that is just what you are. You capture many hearts with that twinkle in your eye and toothless little grin!

Charlie Scooting:

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He has been scooting in little 2 foot increments since he was a little over 5 months old, but it wasn't until Halloween night that he decided to go any further. Bryan dropped a bag of Skittles on the floor, and this is exactly what happened. I guess it just took the right motivation!

boo

if i added a hook on his left hand and an eye patch he could be charlie the tiger-pirate. grrr...argh!



Thankfully I waited until yesterday to buy candy, so the added pounds may only be in the single digits. I usually don't care much for candy bars, but there is this one little stinker in the mix that I can't get enough of. Do I just go ahead and down them all to get it over with? Or should Charlie and I step out of the box this year and knock on doors early and give it away? Self-control, self-control......Why oh why did I buy the good stuff? Why did I not give into my thriftyness and buy the yucky cheap mix with the orange and black wrapped chewy thingies?
Oh well. Come to our house for the goods tonight. Either that, or I will be dressed as the 500 lb. woman.

Fall

The nip and smell of the air, the changing of colors, sweaters, cinnamon and pumpkin, seeing my baby bundled up for the first time....it may be brief, but I love this season.

I'm sure moms everywhere have experienced it - you lay your child down, expecting a couple of hours to yourself to finally take a breather, kick your feet up, and do the laundry. But just 30 minutes or so later (after you have just wasted that time piddling on the internet) you hear the dreaded wimper (or wail) of wakefulness. You then, if you are like someone I know, race down the hall thinking that if you get there quick enough a pacifier might soothe him back to sleep.

But how can I do anything but scoop him up and smother him with kisses when I tiptoe in, only to see him craning his neck to see over the railing - watching for me.



Of course he can't talk yet, but it's obvious that I have just made his day. He is absolutely ecstatic. What's a few more minutes to myself?

Here are a couple of new tricks:
He is now sitting up


And he has now chosen not his fingers, thumb or pacifier to suck on, but his bottom lip. Smart kid. It doesn't get more convenient than that.

Tag

So, I've been tagged by my friend Jessica. Although I enjoy reading others attempts at this game, I've ignored my tag for a few days because I am not very good at these things. To DTR with these games, well, it takes me back to my campus ministry days that abounded with acronyms. But I figure this is a great way to get me to write about something. So hear goes.......

****Yes, I (along with a few others) am too vain to play with my middle name (a great name that I actually love, just tainted by the southern accent, and maybe a few southern "belles" who have also donned it. At least, as our friend Clay might say, it's not preceded by Meeesty) so.....

A - Adjusting. There is the obvious, adjusting to motherhood, but I would say that this week I am feeling the weight of adjusting to marriage with child. How did I ever become so selfish? Maybe my "N" should be needy.....

N - Ntuitive. I'm an iNfp. Nurturing. Night owl.

G - had to get the husband's help on this one, and he quickly replies "good-lookin', great, and gastronomy". ok, so the first 2 show that he is as good at this as I, but the last one speaks. It probably doesn't mean what you think, but the fact that my husband knows what it means says much about me. Or that he has watched an episode or two of Top Chef with me. He says I should add "gourmet chef", although I sincerely say there is room for Growing.

I - Indefineable. This Incapsulates me. I don't want to be put in a box, ever. I am always trying to wiggle my way out. hmm.....maybe that's why I'm not "good" at this game?

E - Explainer (is there also an E word for one who likes to make up words?). I always feel the need to explain my actions or words. *Bryan - "I highly agree"* My friends laugh at how often I preface what I am about to say. This is simply due to a desire to be understood. I guess this is a pretty universal trait - to be fully known and yet really liked, but I think I am the queen of it. Slowly, but surely, the Lord is helping to rid me of this crown, but I know I won't likely see this fully realized on this side of the gates.
I only now realize that I think I prefaced this game!

Whew. Thanks Jess. Ok, I'm supposed to pass this on? Hmm....Heather and Bec are with new babes, and I know you are going to squirm at the thought of this Bec, but I tag you guys anyway. And Elizabeth too.

And Katie, I don't care how oh-so-cool and aesthetically pleasing your blog has become. All eyes are still on you. Just get your husband, or your kids (that would make some great busy-work) to play for you if you have too!

Four months

I have a feeling our little guy is going to be quite the busybody. He is constantly on the move, even if it's in one place. Don't dare try to cradle him like a baby, hold him too tight, or "confine" him to a car seat, bouncy seat....any kind of seat. He is already scooting on the floor, and he "runs" in place when you hold him up. Bryan and I are convinced he would take off if he could only balance.

My days are spent in constant entertaining mode. Little guy doesn't like to be left alone, not for a second. If I must do something without him (meaning him sitting next to me) I am at least narrating the joys of folding laundry and cooking dinner. What used to take minutes (household tasks for example) now takes hours, and what used to take hours (getting ready, exercise, long and hot showers...) now takes minutes.

Not much like his laid-back parents, he is either in ecstatic laughter and smiles, or full-out frustration and tears (which usually seems to be just boredom or confinement). This makes for pretty tiring days, but extremely fun moments. Will he be a passionate soul?

All of this has pretty much been the case since birth, but it is so interesting to see more and more personality come out each month. I don't know what any of this means, and what it all will develop into, but I look forward to seeing who this little guy will become. I wouldn't change a thing. I thank the Lord daily, in amazement, that the Lord gave him to us.

He loves him

I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen Bryan teary. Yesterday when he came home from work Charlie reached for him. This was one of those times.

Charlie's first Auburn game


A lazy morning

and baby makes Three

Number one was spent in a Penske, moving across the country. Number two was celebrated in L.A. with an unknown pregnancy. Number three, although not so exciting, was a blessing in disguise. At first I was bummed that our air conditioning went out during the Southern heat wave, on our anniversary; but then I realized we could pack up and go to my parents home - pool, walking trails, workout room, and best of all, babysitters! Charlie wasn't the only one spoiled.

A glimpse of our babysitters

Pop (aka Big Charlie, but we think Pop will stick)

GG

Lacey couldn't wait to put boots on (Jamie's retired boots)

checking them out

shoes to fill

Old door

How will I ever blog about anything else? He is just too much fun.

It's

just

so

difficult!

success!

Charlie has been trying since birth to get his fingers - any or all - into his mouth. Finally this week we are having consistent success. Congrats little man!

Future top model?

While I'm on a blogging frenzy, I'll just post this because it's cute. I'm not very good at creating sweet, posed pictures, so the ones that end up here are more like outtakes. I had him sitting up, but he is only 3 months old......

He's a talker

These aren't just silly pictures of Charlie sticking out his tongue, this is actually the way he "talks". It is so fun to watch him (seemingly?) try so hard to form words as he twists and contorts his mouth, all the time his tongue right in the middle of it all. A video would do it better justice (I'll work on that). I could listen to his stories all day.

Wondering Eyes

We call them Charlie eyes.



It's rare that he is caught without them. Wide with wonder, they are constantly exploring and discoving something new.

There is that peculiar thing called a ceiling fan, the light beaming through the blinds, and street lights that pass overhead, creatures that bark, big trees and the sun above, new people that don't quite look, sound or even smell like mom or dad....... and this strange machine that they always put in my face to capture these eyes.

I wish I could see the world through them as he does. Sometimes I do get a glimpse.

Fifty-nine years

Happy Anniversary Gurney and Grandaddy


They met as kids, decades ago, as they both lived in the tiny town of Inglenook Alabama. Little Betty Joe Robinson spotted the charismatic James Weldon twirling his batton in front of his girlfriends house, trying to impress her of course.

Although the image is instilled in her mind today, at the time she wasn't impressed. Little did she know that only 8 years later she would marry this "lad" (as my Grandaddy might say).

They were only engaged 3 months because he says "she absolutely flipped over me". Although she describes it as simply a case of opposites attracting. She was always quiet and shy, and he was known for never meeting a stranger. They had a simple wedding at the home of her parents on July 31, 1948. Two years later they had a little girl, Donita, and four years after that came my mom, Gina Kay.

They have led a fascinating life that I hope to record here, so hopefully this story will grow. For now, I'll just address the story everyone wants to know - "why does your grandfather curl his mustache?". It seems like such an obvious question, it's the first thing everyone notices when meeting him. But I have honestly never given it much thought because it is just so, I don't know, Grandaddy. It just fits. He has always marched to his own beat. Only today did I ask him the reason he decided to sport this style. I guess he wasn't born with it.

When he was head of the art department at Loveman's some 30 years ago, he bought print materials from a man in New Orleans. The guy had a (Creole?) mustache that stuck straight out to the sides. When asked how he accomplished such a feat he told Grandaddy that he had to use a mustache wax that could only be found in Paris. Later, this man gave him a tube as a gift. Grandaddy, being the unabashed character that he is, tried it himself only to find that his mustache naturally wanted to curl. So he went with it. And he is still going with it. I wonder if it would even go straight? I'll never forget the mornings my brother, cousins, and I would sit at his bathroom door and watch him sculpt his 'stache.

I love how unique my Grandaddy is.

His wife is the perfect complement for him. He, the dreamer, and she, the realist. I love that Gurney (named this because my oldest cousin couldn't say "Granny") has always spoken honestly with me. She always seeks to do what is right, no matter how hard it might be. I'll never forget the time I took a case of makeup from their home when I was little. It wasn't something she used, and I'm sure she could have just let her grandaughter have it, but the truth was that I took it without asking (I even stuck it under my shirt!). She came to our house near tears to tell my mom what I had done. I'll never forget the shame I felt when apoligizing, but I'll especially never forget the look in her eye and the grace that abounded when she said, "I forgive you". It wasn't about the makeup anymore. Her unconditional love for me and everyone that she is around continues to flood my heart.

I sat down to write about many other things, and now can't believe I just wrote about a mustache and makeup, but I hope to return and fill in the blanks. There is much more to say about two of my favorite people in the world. I love you both!

He melts me

I hope he always looks to his dad the way he is here.


Sweet bedhead.

Happy Birthday Bryan

Today Bryan turns 30, and I thought I'd take a minute to wish him a very happy day!

I recently wrote about one of Bryan's talents - "computer stuff" (as we technically challenged refer to it). But we who know Bryan well know that he is quite multi-faceted. There is so much that I love about him.

I love that he is adventurous enough to pick up and move to the other side of the world, or the other side of the country not only for personal growth and exposure to new things, but also just for the fun of it.



I love the way he loves others. He is not quick to judge.
I love that he often engages a homeless person in a conversation rather than ignoring him.
I love that we are always nearly the last people to leave church because he says "wait, let me go talk to so and so".
I love the way he looks at his son, and the way his son looks at him.

I love that he doesn't mind if I'm a mess and in my pj's when he comes home.
I love watching his hands move when he plays the piano. I love that he loves music.
I love that he is an adventurous eater and is willing to eat anything I throw at him.
I love that he knows me better than anyone else and still likes me.
I love that his son looks like him.
I love our little life we lived together in CA, as well as the one we are making in Birmingham AL.

I love that, as a friend put it, he is quick to "see through the junk" and easily get to the bottom line of things.
I love that he doesn't care much about what others think of him.
I love that he is as calm and cool as they come.
I love that he is quick to forgive.

I love that he loves my friends almost as much as I do.
I love that he is willing to open his heart and life to anyone who takes the time to listen.
I love that he desires to know the hearts of others.


I love watching him enjoy good coffee and good beer
I am grateful for how he cleans the kitchen almost every night.
I am grateful for the naps he lets me take, and the diapers he changes.

I love how he not only loves Charlie and I, but really likes us too.
I love the picture of Christ to me he is.

I love Bryan Davis.

bright eyes

A lazy Saturday morning at almost 11 weeks.