Happy Birthday my sweet sweet Charlotte

Hello...

Firstly, thank you so much for all the amazing comments about my New Years Intentions album and my Australia day themed challenge with Joy. It's incredible how much more exciting this is (and how much more creative I feel) when I get some feedback--especially the positive kind *wink*!!

Today is Charlotte's 1st birthday. My sweet, chubby, happy little baby is 1...where has the past year gone?! It was so fast!! I'm sure I was taking better care to be more involved and notice time etc and I have noticed more, I have been more aware...but jeezo louiso how time has flown!

This is my littlest love on the day she was born:

naaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwww

 

 

Wasn't she a cutey?! All bendy legs and skinniness...

this is her now (this shot is actually from about a week ago, but it's a goody

She just melts my heart.

If I'm being totally honest, I had a hard pregnancy with Charlotte. I was NOT prepared to have another baby, I was nervous, sick, tired, in pain a lot, swollen, NERVOUS, worried, SICK...blech. The whole thing was rotten and I hated it. (I hated that it was rotten). Charlotte's birth was LOOOOOOOONG and haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard work. By the time she'd finally arrived I was so exhausted I had no ability to (what I call) "emote" any more. I just looked at her and thought, 'oh, a baby...that's nice'.  It took me a few hours to relax, stop being in pain, stop freaking out (the birth  was pretty traumatising to tell you the truth and it took me several days to get over it emotionally and 'psychologically'). When I did finally 'come down' from the whole experience I looked at her and my heart just settled into it's proper place.

Since then, it's as though Charlotte knew every worry, every concern, every thought I had about how our lives would be changed when she came and she decided to be the TOTAL opposite of everything I feared.

I feel I should elaborate a little. Isabella was the perfect pregnancy. I had nausea but no real illness, it lasted less than 10 weeks. I had a great pregnancy the whole way through. No cravings, no sickness, no pain, no bloating etc etc. The birth was, well, birth. It's an amazing thing but it's long and painful and arduous, but worth the effort. However, Isabella was the complete opposite of her pregnancy, in reality. She didn't sleep alone until she was almost 18-20 months. Yes, she slept ON me for that time. The longest she slept alone (apart from the first few weeks where most babies just sleep constantly anyway), was maybe 2 hours. I was exhausted. I was stir-crazy and housebound and totally in love with her, so I went with it. But it was so so so hard. Even now, everything with Isabella is work, drama, effort. She requires major thought and organising and planning.

Isabella is completely and totally wonderful, but she's not easy.  She needs notice when something is going to happen, it takes her weeks to get over any change, if something scares her (no matter if it's fleeting or major), she remembers it and worries about it for MONTHS afterwards...she challenges me CONSTANTLY, is stubborn (*cough* so am i *cough*), funny (so am I haha), smart (me not so much lol) etc etc etc (you get the picture)

Charlotte?? She's quiet and easygoing and cheery and sweet and EASY. She (almost always) goes off to sleep with nary a whisper. She sleeps through the night...

She sleeps THROUGH the night...

Can I say it again? SHE SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!

Ok, I'll admit, she sometimes stirs at about 3 am, I feed her milk while she stays asleep, then I go back to bed. AND I SLEEP TOO!!

Charlotte really is like a little prayer that's been answered.

I love Isabella without reserve, question or limit--don't get me wrong. But like I said, she's work and challenging. (Which I love in it's own way)

But I love Charlotte for being easy too. I love her little chuckle (it's really a belly laugh), I love that she's ticklish behind her ear and she leans her head into my mouth so I'll blow raspberries on that spot. I adore that she comes up to me with her bottle hanging out her mouth and climbs up me (like I'm a mountain) and then leans her entire body on mine while she tips her bottle back and drinks her milk. I love love LOVE that she's generally quiet/silent/self-sufficient...until there is food in the vicinity, then she becomes Italian. She's verbal and loud and her hands fly about in gesture, she even does this 'one hand clapping' thing to mean 'give me that'. I love that she and Izzie hold hands when they're in a shopping trolley together. I love that Charlotte's first word was mamamama and her second (a while later) was Izzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

That sweet little miracle of  wonder was born one year ago today...and my life will never be complete without her, will never be the same and will never be anything less than amazing with her in it.

happy birthday baby.

So anyhow, today, to be honest, was a nightmare, neither of the girls slept and both were exhausted, grumpy and crotchety all day. (so was I as it was HUMID here..blech)

lol). It's all a part of the magic.

And now it's 8:20pm and they're both asleep,,,,so this little tired duck is going to go collapse in a heap :) *ha...that rhymed*

I'll be back in the next day or two with some crafty goodness for you :)

Lots of love,

The mummy who is VERY happy not to be in the day one year ago...coz that day was hard and painful (lol)...I'm Much happier to have my little love here with me rather than on the way.

Talk to you soon--thanks for stopping by

L xx