Fun with Grammie

My mom is here this week for a few days. It has been a really nice visit. She watched Charlotte today while I was able to run a few errands. I got errands done in about half the time it would have taken me if I had had Charlotte in tow.

Yesterday we took Charlotte over to where she will be attending day care three days a week. The woman that is going to keep her is so nice, we'll call her "Nanny" for now as I don't want to post specifics on this blog. (trying to keep safety in mind) Nanny LOVED Charlotte and said she can't wait to keep her. I interviewed Nanny back in December when I was looking for a place for Charlotte. I liked her immediately and knew she would be loving. When she held Charlotte for the first time yesterday, I felt relieved. She seemed to truly care about her and thought she was the most wonderful baby. (this I already knew) Charlotte looked right up at her and gave her a big smile.

Here are a few pictures of Charlotte with her Grammie:

Busted Out

This is how I found Charlotte yesterday morning:

Showered

Erin was showered with gifts and love this past weekend in order to get her ready to bring these two beautiful girls home. (Ella on left, Emma on right)

The shower was hosted by Drena, Melissa, Meghan and me. Drena had it at her house. Drena has a beautiful home - I'm so jealous every time I go to her house. Judd and I always joke about how we don't have an "adult" house - that it still a jumble of hand-me-down furniture and there isn't really a true theme or style. There are only 4 windows in the house that have curtains and 3 or 4 walls that have "artwork". I do love my house and I am very proud of it, I just wish it were a little more put together at times. Oh well, all in good time I guess.

Back to the shower. Erin got some great stuff for the girls. One of my favorites was the humidifier that looked like a cow. Charlotte is going to be so jealous when she sees that at Ella and Emma's house, her humidifier is some boring one we picked up at CVS. I had a really nice time talking to everyone and just hanging out. After the shower, Drena, Melissa, Morgan, Meghan, and I went over to the hospital to see Ella and Emma. This was the first time I've seen them since they were born. They are just darling. After the hospital, everyone wanted to come over and see Charlotte - so we made our way to Decatur. After stop at our house, we went out to dinner. It was a great day.

You may be wondering where Charlotte was during all of this time. She was with Judd all day on Saturday. It was his first big day alone with Charlotte. He did great! He said that she let him have it for a half hour or so, but that was the only trouble she gave him. He says that when she screams she is screaming at him - and this really hurts his feelings. I assured him that she is just screaming, and not directing her anger at him, but he disagrees.

We're Back

We made it back to Atlanta Friday evening. We had a great trip back, Charlotte was a great baby. We traveled from 1pm until 9pm in planes, trains, and automobiles and she only cried for about 10 min the entire time. If she keeps these travel habits up, she'll probably get to see a lot of places!

We had a wonderful time in the Keys. The place we stayed couldn't have been more perfect for the kind of vacation we were looking for. Here is the link for the house: 1038 West Ocean Drive. There was a Publix and KMART about 4 miles from the house. We really were able to relax and enjoy ourselves. We ate in most meals, took lots of walks, went to the beach, watched movies, visited with Judd's parents, and played with Charlotte. The weather was wonderful, it didn't rain the entire time we were there.

Judd and I had a great time in Key West Thursday night. We went to visit all of our favorite places and then had dinner at Blue Heaven. It was really nice to be with him on a date. We are together a lot now, but I miss him. I miss him because Charlotte is usually there demanding my attention as well and I can't focus on just Judd. So, it was nice to have all of the focus on just us for a few hours. I think it will be important for us to make time as a couple moving forward.

Going to Key West on Thursday night was the longest I had been away from Charlotte since she was born. She did great while I was gone! She took 3 bottles in a row. She usually gets one bottle a day, so this was a big step. Judd's parents said she cried very little and went to bed without any problems. I was so happy she did so well.

Sadly, we packed up Friday morning and headed out around 1pm. We drove up to Florida City and stopped at "Robert Is Here" fruit stand. Judd read about it on some message boards. They are famous for their fruit milk shakes. I got the strawberry key lime milkshake. It was AWESOME! Judd thought we'd never each finish our own - after about 10 min, my straw was already sucking the bottom of the cup!

Here are some more pictures of the trip:

Visitors

Judd's parents got here yesterday. They have the same flight privileges that Judd and I have, just a lower priority. So, they flew here for free. They pulled up in style yesterday after upgrading to the convertible:

Judd and I are headed to Key West this afternoon for a night out on the town. I'm really looking forward to a little time alone with him. I bet Charlotte's gonna get a lot play time with her Grandaddy and Grandmother.

Lucky Enough

We had our own private beach yesterday. Guess all of the locals were working on a Monday.

There is a saying posted on a manatee mailbox on one of our walking routes here at Key Colony Beach:

"If you are lucky enough to be in the Keys, you are lucky enough."

Interestingly enough, this saying is posted along the route that goes from little houses, to obnoxiously large houses and you read it as you approach the large houses. I have to agree with the manatee - I'm one lucky girl.

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny...Bikini

We made it down to the Keys on Saturday. We ended up booking a sky miles ticket late Friday night as all of the flights looked to be oversold on Saturday. We left Atlanta around 10:30 and landed in Miami around 1pm. We rented a car and began the drive down Route 1 to Key Colony Beach. We had to stop a couple of times to feed Charlotte and feed ourselves, but she was a very good girl the whole trip. She didn't make a peep through the airport or on the plane. She did lose it for a little while when we were on Route 1. It took us about 45 minutes to go 3 miles because of a draw bridge. I ended up sitting in the back with her and entertaining her the rest of the way - that actually seemed to work to calm her down. We stopped at Robbie's to feed the tarpon as one of Charlotte's eating stops.

We got to the house around 4:45. The house is located in Key Colony Beach off of mile marker 53. Key Colony Beach is this little city (they have 5 police men) that is made up of a lot of canals. The house is very nice and right across the street from a private beach, Inch Beach. Our rental package included passes to this beach. When we got here, Judd went to the store and got some food for us as well as a cheap pack and play that Charlotte can sleep in.

Sunday morning we got up, Judd made coffee and we went out on our front porch and watched all of the morning walkers while we ate breakfast and drank our coffee. Charlotte slept for 45 min or so while we did this. Then we took a little walk around Key Colony Beach to check it out. We ended up going to the beach for an hour or so later that morning - Charlotte didn't like putting her toes in the water, but she did like sleeping in BOB on the beach.

Not sure what we have planned for today. We are having our coffee and breakfast now on the porch while I'm poaching Internet from the condos across the street. :)