The Peapod

Six Months!

2008-01-29T20:32:00.000-05:00

Well, our little girl is now 6 1/2 months old. I can hardly believe how time flies! She can sit up on her own now and is well on her way to getting into mischief. :) She can't quite crawl yet but she can get up on her hands and knees, and then she's not quite sure of where to go from there. She's sampled lots of solid foods and so far her favorites are sweet potatos and bananas. Everything else she'll tolerate...although she's not overly fond of prunes or peaches. Check out her website for new pics and her growth chart to see how much she's grown!

Christmas and New Years

2007-12-29T09:55:00.000-05:00

Well, Charlotte's first Christmas was a success! We had a busy day but it was so much fun! You can get more details at charlottes website. Toby ended up with his 42" lcd tv and of course it's HD with 1080p. :) Not quite sure what all that means but it sure means something to him! I got a new 8gb Ipod which is pretty cool since mine died and it wasn't worth it to have them replace it. Since they've changed so much it was better to get a brand new one. Nothing special planned for New Years and to be honest we'll probably be in bed by 11pm. We're such party poopers.... :)

Thanksgiving

2007-12-02T10:44:00.001-05:00

Well, We enjoyed Charlotte's first thanksgiving with lots of friends and family! We spent the day at Meryl and Noel's and there was lots of food, fellowship, and fun! Charlotte slept most of the time but did enjoy a short time at the dinner table with us all and then later on that evening for a game of Scattergories! Overall it was an excellent day!

The saturday after Thanksgiving our friends Rhett, Cheryl and Rhett jr. and their cousin Kristine, drove up for a short day-long visit. It was so awesome to see them! We ate dinner out and made a quick trip to the store, but other than that it was just lots of visiting and getting to know Charlotte. We did take some pictures, you can check them out on Charlotte's website.

Now we're having fun getting ready for Charlotte's first Christmas! We've put up our Christmas tree and the outside lights as well. Charlotte particularly enjoys the lights on the tree. Last night she was talking to them....it was so cute! Today we're gonna get dressed up to do our Christmas photo in front of the tree. That should be fun! Charlotte is going to get so spoiled with all the cute toys we're buying for her. Granted she'll have more fun with the paper than with the actual toys on Christmas Day but that's ok, it's more for mommy and daddy this year since she's still a little too young to truly enjoy it.

Things are happening...

2007-11-02T19:26:00.000-04:00

Well, life is moving along as usual. Charlotte can now hold up her own head and she can also roll from front to back and also from back to front. She's growing up so fast! Just about four months now...it goes by so quickly! There are plenty of new pictures and videos just check them out at her website, www.charlottedawes.com.

3 months!

2007-10-13T08:24:00.000-04:00

Well, our little Charlotte has celebrated her first 3 months of life. I can hardly believe it's been 3 months, the time just flies!

I just love being a mommy!

2007-10-07T21:04:00.000-04:00

Well, almost another month has passed and I just love being a mommy! Charlotte is absolutely wonderful and changing just about everyday! My favorite thing is when she "talks" to me and smiles and laughs at all the funny faces I make at her. Although my alltime favorite is very first thing in the morning when I go in about 7am and she's just waking up and she opens her eyes and looks at me for a second and then flashes this huge smile at me. I love that!! I also love that she sleeps on average 8-8 1/2 hours a night straight and has done for about 3 weeks now. It's nice to get that much sleep although I could do a couple more hours on top of that. :) Don't forget to check out charlotte's website, www.charlottedawes.com for more updates and pictures and even some videos now!

Helpless

2007-09-12T20:38:00.000-04:00

There's nothing worse, I've discovered, than having your child be in pain and not being able to do anything about it. Charlotte had her 2 month vaccines today. She didn't do too bad while getting the shots (3 total in her upper thighs). She did cry pretty bad when getting the shots but stopped soon after and was fine until about 5 hours later when the tylenol had worn off and we had forgotten to give her more. She must have cried her poor little heart out for about a half hour before finally being so exhausted she fell asleep for about two hours. We're not talking the cute little "I'm hungry" crying, or the "I have a dirty nappy" crying. This was all out "I'm in pain and not feeling good!" crying. I have never ever seen her cry so hard for so long. I was actually in tears because I felt so bad for her and we had done everything we could think of to help her. More tylenol, changed her diaper, put cold compresses on her legs where she had the shots. It was absolutely awful and heart wrenching. It was almost like she was screaming.....it was so bad. She's doing fine now though as long as we keep remembering to give her tylenol. Hopefully she'll sleep ok tonight....otherwise tomorrow is going to be a long day....

Back to work and I hate it...

2007-09-04T20:35:00.000-04:00

Well, I went back to work last Thursday and it was absolutely horrible leaving her! Even though I was leaving her with my mom I still cried. I am so lucky to have both sets of parents so close by so that we won't have to put Charlotte into a strangers care. What I miss the most about not being at home during the day is just being able to sit and hold Charlotte and just stare at her. *sigh* Looking at a picture is just not the same. Another downside is I don't get to take a nap during the day anymore. Makes for a long tiresome day....

Family

2007-08-18T09:14:00.000-04:00

Well, it's official. My first day back at work will be August 30th. I'm definitely not looking forward to being back at work...maybe someday I'll be able to stay at home which is what I truly want. Financially right now it's an impossibility...but we're slowly working on that. Charlotte has been sleeping much longer through the night. I got six hours of sleep straight last night!! WooHoo!

It was so great to have Judy here for the week. Melanie and Kevin came for the weekend and it was so awesome to be able to go for an afternoon in saratoga springs with my two sisters and mom and of course Toby and Charlotte. Visit Charlotte's website for pictures of the afternoon. Toby's brother Charles flew in from Holland this week so it's really nice to see him too. Sarah couldn't make the trip since she's 16 weeks pregnant and the traveling would be difficult. I completely understand! :) Charles absolutely loves to hold and cuddle with Charlotte and she is very happy to be held and cuddled as well!

Hopefully we'll have more pictures to upload to charlotte's website either today or tomorrow so check there for updates. There will probably be a new entry in her Journal as well.

Love to all!

Photo to go with JoAnn's last post

2007-08-09T23:02:00.000-04:00

If you go to Charlotte's web site you can see more photos like this... :)

Visit charlottedawes.com!

4 Generations

2007-08-08T12:18:00.000-04:00

Well, We're just about 4 weeks now. I can hardly believe it. It seems like only yesterday we just came home from the hospital. :) She's starting to hold her head up a little bit now. We try to spend a few minutes everyday doing "tummy time" to make her neck stronger. She saw her Great Grandma and Grampa Melvin (my mom's mom) last night and we took a picture with four generations of our family. Charlotte, myself, my mom and Grandma Melvin-Lamos. Judy's plane should have landed about an hour ago in Newburgh and her and my parents should be on their way home now. Judy and my mom will most likely spend the day here tomorrow. I think Miss Charlotte will be well acquainted with her Aunt Judy by the end of the day.

Well, it's feeding time at the zoo again. Later Gaters!

New meaning to the word "tired"

2007-07-23T21:39:00.001-04:00

Wow, I am beat! Taking care of Charlotte is definitely hard work but so worth it. I remember the good old days when I could sleep 8 hours a night.....*sigh* Every night is a little bit different but on average we get about 4 hours of sleep during the night with periodic naps throughout the other 20 hours of the day. It's about 9:30 pm right now and I could totally crash...but I can't since Charlotte's got a 10:30 feeding coming up before I can go to bed. I'll probably be in bed by 11pm....sleep until 3am when her next normal feeding is. She's usually up and a little fussy after that until about 5am and then I can catch another 2 hours of sleep until 7am when I have to get up and get ready for her 7:30am feeding. I'm gonna have to change her feeding schedule a little bit too....maybe make it earlier....so that I can get her morning feeding done before I have to leave for work and drop her off at Granny Meryl's house or Gramma Darlene shows up to watch her. We've got a couple of weeks before we really have to worry about that though....I'm not supposed to be back at work until August 23rd at the earliest. I'm gonna have to figure out how to keep pumping while I'm at work too...not sure how flexible they're going to be with my schedule but I can always talk to my manager about that too. That's about it for now....too tired to type much else anyway. :)

Charlotte Emma is here!!

2007-07-16T15:50:00.000-04:00

Well, we did it! Charlotte Emma was born at 12:21pm on July 12th, 2007. She weighed 6lbs 8.3 oz and was 20 inches long. I do have a new appreciation for the epidural....I wanted to go as long as I could without it but once I got it I was like," why did I wait so long???" Our first day home was Saturday and we had lots of family to help. Her aunt Melanie and Uncle Kevin came up from Ilion to visit this past weekend as well and her Aunt Judy is coming from Kansas in August and so her Uncle Charles is also coming in august from Amsterdam, Holland. Toby and I are definitely exhausted and take naps quite frequently. Toby is having one right now. :) Pretty much when the baby sleeps we try to sleep as well. Charlotte had her first Pediatrician visit today just to check up on her. She's doing very well and has actually gained weight already! She's 6lbs 10oz. as of today. Next appointment is in two weeks. I can hardly believe how perfect she is. Toby and I are so totally in love! Toby is avidly working on her website, www.charlottedawes.com and hopefully will have that up and running within the next week or so. He pretty much tries to work on it between naps and caring for his little girl. We just love her so much!!

7 days!

2007-07-07T08:18:00.000-04:00

Well, It's official! After todays visit to the doctor I am 1 cm dialated. *L* The Nurse Midwife says I will definitely have the weekend to relax at least...which is good. I'm hoping Charlotte waits just a little bit longer to make her grand appearance since I really would like to do a couple of things before she's here. I've only got a few more things to pack into my labor bag and then that'll be ready to go. Today we're gonna see if we can figure out how the car seat works....some of those things you need a college diploma to be able to figure them out! *L*

I think I'm ready

2007-07-05T19:17:00.000-04:00

Well, only 9 days to go and I think I'm just about ready. :) My last day at work is tomorrow and then hopefully Charlotte will give me a few days to relax before she makes her great appearance. People at work can't believe I waited so long to leave work....but I guess I just never thought I'd need to go out any earlier. It is tough sitting in the same spot for the entire day....my hips get very very sore by the end of the day. My legs swell up pretty good too...which is also painful by the end of the day. At my doctor's appointment tomorrow I'm having an actual exam, yucky, but they'll be able to tell me if I'm dilated at all and what station I'm at (basically how far down Charlotte is). Well, I need to go and finish packing my labor bag....I'm so ready for this baby. :)

Countdown!

2007-06-28T15:20:00.000-04:00

Wow! Can you hardly believe that it'll only be a couple more weeks and we'll see our baby girl, Charlotte??? 16 days to be exact....not that I'm counting. Technically she could make her appearance any day now. My bag is mostly packed although there are certain things that can't go in until that day. Baby's room is mostly put together. Toby just has to bring in the dresser and I get to put all the clothes in it...but that's it! I have felt some false labor...not too strong or painful and it never lasts very long. It goes away if I change position and it really just feels the same way as the cramps you get during your period. The doctor says this is normal and it's getting everything ready for the big day! I guess practice makes perfect!

Moving Day

2007-06-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

Well, Toby's parents are finally moving into their new home on 22 Davis Street in Glens Falls. Toby was pretty excited since he got to drive the huge moving truck....thought that was pretty cool. He's over at the house right now (it's 9am) unpacking the truck....I can't do much so I'm just taking my time getting ready and relaxing a bit before I go over to "supervise."

There's only 4 weeks to go until Charlotte's big debut! I'm officially 36 weeks pregnant and I definitely feel like it! My Doctor's visits are weekly now and everything is going well. Blood Pressure is perfect and Charlotte's Heart Beat is nice and strong now. She's head down which is exactly where she needs to be at this point. :)

That's pretty much it for now....Enjoy!

Childbirth Class

2007-06-09T15:26:00.000-04:00

Well, we've completed the childbirth class. It was actually a lot of fun and we learned a lot of helpful tips. I've finally decided that I want to avoid the epidural if at all possible and also the episiotomy as well. I'd be ok with some iv pain relievers to take the edge off...but that's about it. The nurse that taught the class was a riot! Very animated and very funny....which is probably why the class was so much fun. I'm only 5 weeks away from the due date.....the clock is ticking!

Anxious and a little nervous...

2007-05-21T16:37:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm 33 weeks in and I'm getting more and more excited by the day. Little Charlotte is pretty active in there, I can feel her moving around as I sit here and type. We're all signed up for Lamaze classes - those will be in June but I'm anxious to begin those as well. We received a really nice gift in the mail today from some friends in Virginia Beach-a keepsake book for Charlotte's first five years. I think it's a very wonderful and thoughtful gift! I have the one my mom made for me and I love to flip through and take a peek now and again. I know Charlotte will appreciate hers as much as I appreciate mine. Every now and again I just take a quick peek into the baby's room and I just think how much I can hardly wait to hold my little Charlotte in my arms and make cute baby faces at her. *sigh* Waiting has got to be the hardest part.....but I'm sure she'll be here before I know it. :)

Charlotte Emma

2007-05-15T19:37:00.000-04:00

Well, it's official....it's a girl! At least according to the ultrasound...there's always a small possibility otherwise. Now I can buy little pink frilly dresses with bows all over it. *L* Yay! We have updated our website www.tobyandjoann.com with the babyshower photos and videos and also put up the pictures from the ultrasound today. Charlotte wasn't being very camera friendly but we did get a 3d photo of her right eye and her holding her hand up to her forhead "egyptian" style. *L* Posing already! Toby's already registered www.charlottedawes.com but for now it just directs you to the sweetpea area on our website. Toby's already playing the part of the proud papa, he's so cute. *L* Only 9 weeks left...not that we're counting!

My First Mother's Day

2007-05-13T07:51:00.000-04:00

Well, here it is. My first Mother's day. Now that the babyshower is done and I have a ton of packages to sort through and put away (yay!) I'm now more anxious than ever to be able to hold my baby in my arms. Toby would say I hold my baby all day long...but I know he's just teasing and he knows what I mean. Toby was so excited to give me my mother's day card, which was very cute, and I was excited to get it. The first of many.

I received so many great gifts yesterday! The greatest gift was how many friends and family showed up to support Toby and I in this new chapter in our lives. I was thoroughly excited when my Aunt Debbie, Aunt Dawn and Cousin Becca arrived all the way from Pennsylvania!!! It's amazing to think that they saw me when I was just a baby and now they'll see my baby....isn't life just wonderful!

Well, I think I'm gonna disappear into the baby's room for an hour to sort through all the wonderful gifts! Happy Mother's Day!

Getting Ready to be a dad...

2007-05-09T21:17:00.001-04:00

It is exciting and all, but I am moving forward with trepidation. It is daunting to me that in two months I will have either a son or a daughter (yes, we still don't know, but should by next week as we have a second ultrasound)...

I am in awe that little feet and hands will look towards me for love and care, and to learn from me about how things work, and how you do things.

I am so proud of JoAnn, for she is the mother of my child and I love her... :)

My view on feet flushers....

2007-05-05T19:15:00.000-04:00

Ok, so here's a question to all you foot flushers out there. You know who you are, those people who flush public toilets with their feet instead of using their hands. First let me say I'm not one of those people. Since normal people wash their hands after using the bathroom I just find that unneccessary since the bottom of your shoes is a lot dirtier than using toilet paper or something. My question is.....do you also use your feet to open the stall door? Here's why....for those of us who use our hands to flush the public toilet we usually use the opposite hand that we wiped with to do this. We actually use the same hand we wiped with to open the stall door....you know....undo the lock thingy. So for those people who think it's gross to touch the handle after people who wiped touched the handle your still touching the same germs when you open the stall door. :) Hopefully all the foot flushers out there at least wash their hands after using the toilet like all the other normal people who use their hands to flush. :)