What a funny kid

One night shortly after Verity was born Charissa and Britt went out on a donut date.  While they were eating, Britt decided to take a few pictures.  Here's what he got:

I guess she thought he wanted to document everything.  She just makes me laugh.

5 - 5 - 5

Has anyone else seen all the 5 - 5 - 5 blogs?  You have to go to your 5th picture folder and post your 5th picture and then tag 5 of your friends.  Here's the 5th picture in my 5th folder:

This was taken when Charissa was only 4 months old.  We had just gotten this little pool for her and we were actually using it on our front porch.  I love this picture because she looks so small and for some reason I feel like the little duckies balance the picture our nicely.  

So now who should I tag?  Here's my line-up:

1. Julie S.

2. Nicole W.

3. Amy H.

4. Shannon N.

5. Monica R.

Lookalike

Is it just me, or does Verity have the same hair as our friend Gena?

Man, I miss Gena ...

The Best Date

Yesterday the girls and I went out shopping and ended up spending all morning and a good bit of the afternoon out.  Since we were gone so much longer than I thought, we stopped to eat lunch at Steak 'n' Shake.  We had so much fun!  I hadn't been to a Steak 'n' Shake in so long I forgot that it was a full-service restaurant.  Baby V slept through the entire event, but Charissa and I had a blast.  We colored and talked and laughed and someone ate all my french fries but didn't touch any of her own.  We stayed for a lot longer than was necessary, but we were having so much fun I didn't want to leave.  

I didn't take any pictures of us while we were at lunch but here are a few from the mall when I was shoe shopping and Charissa decided to try on a pair too.  

I have to say, Charissa is one of my most favorite people to spend the day with.  

CJ's New Desk

Last week Britt's mom gave Charissa a new desk.  Well, it's new to her, but it's actually the one that Britt and his brother used as children.  What a treasure!  Britt's step-dad sanded it down and re-stained it and it looks brand new.  And Charissa loves it!  She sits at it all the time and keeps herself occupied coloring and writing and playing on an old keyboard.  

I love these next few pictures because it looks like she's hard at work paying bills or working on homework or something.  She looks so grown up.  

It's been a pretty exciting season for CJ.  Christmas, a new sister, a new desk, and then her birthday is next week!  

Can anyone else believe my tiny baby girl is going to be two?

Snow Day!

Did anyone else feel like they woke up in Narnia this morning?  It was so beautiful!  And it was just snowing, snowing, snowing still.  We bundled ourselves up and headed out to enjoy the snow - you never know how many snow days you'll get in Raleigh.  

CJ actually had to borrow some pants from our neighbor Nathan because she didn't have any weather appropriate ones.  

Here Britt is making "Snow Art."  It was going to be a snow man (or a snow woman "because of the curves"), but it ended up just being "art."

Baby V thoroughly enjoyed being snuggled up in her Ergo and staying warm next to Mama.  Every once in a while a large snowflake would fall on her and she'd open her eyes a little, but other than that she slept through the entire outing.  

Things I'm Relearning About Babies

1. You change their diaper or clothes and they will immediately get them dirty.  Baby V seems to be able to time it to when I've just picked her up from the changing table.  Talented girl. 
2. Babies eat a lot.  Often and a lot.  Nursing is a full-time job.
3. Five hours of uninterrupted sleep is a miracle.  
4. Cuddling an infant can distract you for hours.  
5. Somedays it's enough just to make sure your children are fed, clothed, and safe.  Laundry and house-cleaning are bonuses at this point.

Enough Love For Two

I have been so surprised by the number of people who have reminded me to pay attention to Charissa and not forget about her.  Seriously?  How could I forget my first born?  I'm hoping that people mean "Don't get too busy with the new baby that you don't have time to play with Charissa" instead of "Don't forget that you have another child and forget to feed her or change her diaper or leave her at home."   

Charissa has done so well with the addition of a new baby in our home.  She loves Baby V and wants to make sure that she always has her paci and she becomes very concerned every time she cries.  And she's such a helper!  She loves to go get diapers or burp clothes and Baby V never has a lack of toys brought to her that she can't possibly play with.  Oh well - at least she's interested and happy.  

And yes - I am still spending time with Charissa.  In fact, since Baby V sleeps almost 20 hours a day, it's not hard to spend time with Charissa.  I've tried to make sure that CJ has had mama time every day.  One day we ran errands just the two of us, another day we read books, and we watched "The Little Mermaid" together.  Well, we watched about 20 minutes of it before she got antsy and wandered off.  

So please be assured that I haven't forgotten about my sweet CJ.  I still love her and love spending time with her.  She's still my little bundle and one of my most favorite people in the whole world.  There is more than enough love in my heart for both of my girls.  

Here's a picture of me and my girls and the way we spend most of our time - close together.

My Girls

The other day I did a little photo shoot of Verity in the same outfit that I had Charissa in when I did a photo shoot with her.  Here's the results:

Charissa - 1 Week Old

Verity - 1 Week Old

Charissa - 1 Week Old

Verity - 1 Week Old

So they aren't carbon copies of each other, but there are some serious similarities.  It'll be interesting to see how they change over time.