September 26th, 2009

It seems like lately I'm always running a few days behind. I totally meant to post this on Sunday, but got wrapped up in other things. So here I am....posting a "One Year Ago Today" message.....One year and two days later!

September 26th, 2009, was a very exciting day in the Ritchie household. The details are still so vivid in my mind. It was a Saturday. Husker game day. They were playing Louisianna-Lafayette at home. It was supposed to be a blow out game and not the caliber of competition that is typically on network television, but it was on pay-per-view. Typically Matt and I would head out to Buffalo Wild Wings, drink a few beers and watch the game with other Husker fans. It was a Saturday....what else did we have to do!? We were a young married couple with essentially no responsibilities other than work and our dogs.

At this point, it had been about 2 months since Matt and I decided that we were ready to start a family and for some reason that morning I felt like I should take a pregnancy test. In my head I knew that it was probably too soon to tell if I was preggo or not, but I took one anyway. I didn't say anything to Matt at first, but when those 2 little pink lines showed up I couldn't contain myself. With my heart ready to explode out of my chest, I walked out to the living room and held up the test. I didn't say a word but he knew. Looking back on it, I'm disappointed that I didn't come up with something more creative, but I was just too excited to think straight!

WE WERE HAVING A BABY!!!!! Holy cow....we were having a baby.

And Nebraska won 55-0.

Interpret this face....

Most might think that this is just an unhappy baby experiencing cereal for the first time. ACTUALLY.... It is a baby with milk/soy protein intolerance trying to tell her Mommy and Daddy that Gerber rice cereal AND oatmeal both have soy in them. AHHHHHHHHH!

I'm guessing this had something to do with our fever the other night and the crabby crabby Friday/Saturday that we had. Never in a million years would this have even crossed my mind as something I needed to check. We've spent the weekend detoxing and she is slowly getting back to her normal self. Looks like I'm going to become a label reader/baby food maker! Whatever it takes to avoid a potential oops!

Ok, so I can't leave you on a "sad baby note"....so here's another picture. Charlotte LOVES her new leg warmers! This was early on in our detox so we weren't getting many smiles, but she still looks pretty stinkin' cute.

Yet another first...

So on my last post, I talked about all of the new and exciting "firsts" that our little Charley Bear is starting to experience. In just the past week we've experienced ponytails, pigtails, cereal, the jumperoo...all very good and exciting. Well, on Wednesday we had another "first," this one not as fun for either Charley OR mom and dad....her very first fever. She's always been a warm baby and wakes up with the back of her head all sweaty, but this time I could tell that it was different. She was HOT. At one point I took a temp of 102.6! Poor thing. Anytime I would try to put something in her mouth (mainly Tylenol) she would spit up and proceed to scream. UGH.

Matt had to go to work at 2 AM, so I let him sleep until I heard his alarm go off; then I pounced on him for reassurance that I didn't need to take her in to the ER. YES...I'm totally a paranoid heart mom. She's been doing so well and something like a fever, something that just happens, heart baby or not, totally freaks me out. Instead of the ER, I resorted to ask-a-nurse. By then, whatever Tylenol she did get was starting to bring her temp down, and she was drifting in and out of sleep. We decided it was best to wait until morning and see how she was doing. She was supposed to have her 4 month well visit the following day, so the timing couldn't have been better.

By morning she was fever free; you could tell that she was a little "off" and totally exhausted. She slept most of the day and I tried to sneak in little bits of formula whenever I could. Dr. Elliott said that her ears looked good and her chest sounded clear, so for now we're just watching her and hoping it was a fluke deal. When I woke her up this morning I got a huge grin, so my guess is that she's on the up swing.

On a better note...Charley is getting SOOOOO BIG! Ok, so not BIG, but BIGGER! Weighing in at just over 11 pounds at her visit yesterday, she officially charted in the 6th percentile! If you remember, just a month ago she was only in the 3rd. She's in the 10% range for height as well. Everyone is very pleased at the progress she's making. We are now doctor free until the end of October when we have to go back for another echo with Dr. Sami.

Hope that everyone has a great weekend. We're camping out at home and getting the Nebraska/SDSU football game on pay-per-view. I've been giving Matt a hard time and telling him that since I'm SDSU facutly now, that I'll probably cheer for them. I've even threatened that Charley is going to wear her SDSU hoodie. Hahaha...NOT A CHANCE! We've all seen how happy she is in her Husker red!

A First time for Everything

What an exciting night at the Ritchie house! Charlotte got to try all sorts of new things!

It all started when I tried to give her a bottle. Usually she eats AT LEAST every 4 hours...most times she makes it to about 3.5 and is looking at me like "Come on lady, I'm hungry." Well, tonight it had been almost 6 hours, but whenever I would offer her a bottle she would turn her head and purse her lips. Where did she learn to be so dang stubborn?!?! Anyway, out of curiosity I busted out a box of rice cereal to see what she would do.

Started out not so bad...more confused than anything...

Hey, this isn't so bad!

Enoughs enough! Not too bad for a first try. We'll give it another try tomorrow!

After giving herself a little time to digest, Charley got to try out her 4 month birthday gift from Mommy and Daddy. It was delivered this afternoon and Daddy had it all set up and ready to go when we got home.

She was so incredibly focused that I couldn't even get her signature smile out of her! Maybe once she's had time to soak it all in.

Haha! Look at those chicken legs! And to think that I told someone today that her thighs were starting to "beef up!" You would never guess it by this picture. Her legs aren't quite long enough so we had to give her a little boost.

She's growing so quickly...Before we know it she's going to be 35 and going on her first date!

Just like Daddy....

Want to see a happy Charley?? All you have to do is park her in front of Saturday football and she'll grin from ear to ear! There's still a couple of hours until game time, but we're all ready to cheer GO BIG RED!

Soooooo BIG!

How could I forget???

Four months and one day is a very important day...

Charley is officially

ELEVEN POUNDS!

Good girl, Charley!!!

4 months (and 1 day)

It may be a day late, but I couldn't NOT post a very special message to our little Charley Bear to wish her the HAPPIEST 4 month birthday! She is growing and changing every day and Matt and I are having so much fun watching her little personality develop. She is such a happy baby and is always ready to flash that beautiful smile of hers.

Happy 4 month birthday, Charley....We love you more than you could ever imagine!

How do you like my new do??

Charlotte is getting to be such a vibrant little lady with SO much personality. Now she's got the hairdo to match! I don't know why it took me so long to buy little rubber bands, but you can bet that now that I started, there will be no end in sight (especially since the pack that I bought came with 400 little bands!)

Labor Day weekend

This past weekend Charlotte and I made our first solo trip back to Nebraska for the long holiday weekend. Matt had to stay behind and work, so we braved the road alone. I was a little nervous about a potential breakdown (Charlotte, not my car) and worried that the trip could turn into 6 hours rather than 3, but much to my relief, she slept the WHOLE way. Its a good thing that she got her rest on the ride because I ran her ragged the rest of the weekend!

After some quick lunch at Grandma Debbie's house, the whole Goeser clan, kiddos included, headed to a place called Create in Elk Horn. The owners of Create have donated a large canvas to be auctioned off at the Midwest Heart Connection's 7th Annual Hearts of Hope event. This event raises money for research, support and programs for families affected by congenital heart defects. Create then invited CHD kiddos to come and contribute their artistic talents! Since our little lady is a little young to hold a paint brush, I recruited some of her biggest supporters to help her out. Ben and Aubrey collaborated on a beautiful butterfly and Owen skillfully crafted a big blue blob!

Saturday night we went to Jill and Jay's house to watch the first Husker football game of the season. I'll be the first to admit that I didn't watch a whole lot of the game. Its not very often that Jill, Angie, Lindsey and I are all four together at the same time! Charlotte sported her red Husker gear and is bound to become a big fan.

Sunday was another busy day. After lunch we headed down to Children's to visit some of our favorite nurses. It was strange pulling into that parking garage again and getting back on the elevators that I rode day after day. I can't say that I miss it in the least! The nurses on the other hand, we do miss. They were so great to us while Charlotte was there and were so excited to see her again!

After the hospital we made a quick trip to NamNam and PopPop Ritchie's house to wish PopPop a belated birthday. Aunt Kristen even stopped by to say hello!

Our next stop was not quite as successful. Against my better judgement, I drug an already exhausted 3 1/2 month old to the Carters store with me! They were having a super huge sale and I just couldn't resist. Well....we didn't last long, but I got lots of great deals in what time we did have!

After a much needed nap, it was time to head out to Uncle Jay's surprise 40th birthday party. Aunt Jill wasted no time showing Charlotte off to friends and family who hadn't had the chance to meet her yet. Its a good feeling when the people who have been praying so hard for our little girl and our family finally get to meet her. I don't know why....but my eyes just filled up with tears thinking about it. Everyone has been so incredibly supportive and I love that they get to see her looking so healthy and strong.

That pretty much wraps up our weekend in Omaha. It was great to see everyone and we can't wait to get back again.

One final thing.......HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDSEY AND JAY! Hope that you had wonderful birthdays and we were all thinking of you! We are so glad that we could help you celebrate this weekend!