Fishing Fun

Daddy went fishing last week and had a great day. We had to meet him when they got in so Charlie Banks could see the fish. He scraped his knee up pretty good while we were waiting!  Charlie Banks even ate the wahoo when we cooked it this weekend. I'm going to try my hardest to make sure he's not as picky as I am. Jimmy is fishing again today so hopefully they will have another great day. 

Springing Forward

We have been loving the spring weather and have tried to enjoy it while it lasted. It's been chillier the past couple of days, but hopefully it will be here to stay soon. Last week we had a picnic at Alhambra and played at the park, enjoyed a morning at the beach and spent most evenings on the golf cart. Such a nice time of year in Charleston!

Disney

Jimmy had to be in Orlando for business and we decided to tag along.  We wouldn't normally take Charlie Banks to Disney at such a young age, but we figured we would since we were there.  He loved the teacups and the carousel.  We were able to ride some of our other favorite rides and enjoy lunch and his first popsicle.  We had a fun time!  We didn't plan the trip out like a lot of people do these days, but I might when he gets a little older and we are trying to fit more into our trip.  My mom made his adorable "Mickey" outfit...so precious.

Big Brother

We are so excited that Charlie Banks is going to be a big brother in September!!  It was a rough and scary start to our second pregnancy. Jimmy was in Africa so I headed to our first appointment alone. When the ultrasound began I could immediately tell by what I saw and my doctors face that things weren't right. They told me what everyone hopes to never hear...it did not appear to be a viable pregnancy. The sac was collapsed and although you could see the flicker of a heartbeat on the screen it was not strong enough to detect.  They sent me for blood work that that and again two days later and told me to come back for another ultrasound in a week where they didn't expect there to be any sign of a heartbeat. It was a sad and long, long, long week. With Jimmy still gone, I headed back the following week and much to my and my doctors surprise we saw a healthy baby on the screen. Then we saw another not healthy sac. There had been TWO and one did not survive...which was the sac we believed we were looking at the previous week. I was in shock as this did not even cross my mind as an option. We had a few extra ultrasounds the following weeks to make sure the additional sac absorbed itself and that everything was progressing normally with the healthy baby. What a miracle!  We are very happy and know that Charlie Banks is going to be a great big brother.

 

He was very interested in Hadleigh when she was over the other day.  He did "slap" her in the face though, so we do have some work to do on learning to be gentle.

Hadleigh Marie

We have a new niece!  She was born on February 4 and she is perfect in every way!  She is so adorable and we can't wait to watch her grow up.  She will have two older boys looking out for her in Hudson and Charlie Banks!  I can't wait for Jimmy to get home so he can meet her.

14 Month Update

Charlie Banks has become quite the little character lately!  He is keeping me very busy.  Jimmy gets home this week (hallelujah!) after having been gone for almost 2 months.  It's be a very long 7 weeks and we can't wait for him to get home.  We have tried to stay busy with visits to the library, aquarium, childrens museum, sky zone and parks when the weather allows. 
When Jimmy left at the beginning of January Charlie Banks was just starting to walk...now he can run!  We have transitioned to 1 nap - which has by far, without a doubt been the most challenging nap transition yet.  I wasn't prepared at all because the other transitions were so seamless for us.  We have had some rough days where he has only napped for 30 minutes, but we do seem to be on the ups on this front.  The past week he has gone for anywhere from 1-2:30 hours...so hopefully he is getting the hang of it.  He has also become quite the momma's boy...ie crying if I go to the bathroom and he realizes he doesn't know where I am or crying at restaurants if I get up to get a drink and leave his sight.  While I do find it cute and sweet that he loves me so much, it also makes me yearn for Jimmy's help even more so than normal when he is gone!  He is learning a lot of new words - his favorites and most perfected are ball and dog.  He loves to blow kisses and give high 5's.  He also loves to carry his dirty diapers to their special spot.  He loves most fruits, avocado toast, pretzels, apple sauce, veggie cakes, etc.  I have been offering him whatever I eat for meals, which is very nice if he will eat it...it's hit or miss.  He very much so understands what no! means and more often than not will listen.  He also knows most things around the house that he is not supposed to do and will typically shake his head no if he is contemplating pushing the limits!  This is certainly a fun age!

Our Sweet Valentine

Our precious boy on his second Valentines Day...