a little late.....

but worth the wait.. Happy Father's Day Josh!!

Charleigh and I discussed what we wanted to say to Daddy on here and couldn't agree how to narrow down all the great things about him, so we have opted to go for a little ego boost.

Can you spot the difference in these photos?

Father's Day 2007

Easter 2008

We love you and are so proud of you!!!!

remind me not to forget....

Sometimes I find myself so wrapped up in all the difficulties of the 2 year old phase that I don't stop often enough to notice all the really great things. Here are some of the things I hope to look back on this time and remember..........

• when the letter W was pronounced "buttaboo"



• when a bird's nest in the front yard tree warranted 10 viewings a day



• when I never knew what she would look like upon waking up in the morning (clothes on? off? inside out? backwards? bottoms on top? top on bottom? all of the above? )



• when all 7 babies HAD to be in bed before going to sleep



• when the arrival of Daddy/Nana/Papa at the end of the day was cause for screaming excitedly "Daddy/Nana/Papa's Home!!!!" and running in circles in the living room



• when walking around with toy buckets on her head was among the top 5 favorite daily activites



• when bathroom trips at restaurants could result in clapping for the stranger she could hear peeing or loudly proclaiming "Yucka Poo-Poo!" for the lady she heard doing...well, you know



• when she so proudly announced "I Did It!" for all accomplishments



• when counting consisted of "2,1,6" or "1,2,5" or my favorite "1,2,1,6"



• when no matter how many times she'd driven Mama to the brink during the day all it took was one good grin and all was soon forgotten.........

why we love lorie chambless....

we've been tagged.....

Charleigh was tagged recently by her good friend Henry so here goes......

1. My name is Charleigh Anne. Charleigh (sounds like Charlie) was my mom's first choice and my dad's last. Mom had liked the name for years before I was around and they had fought over this since before they even got married. But Mom finally begged (and played the pregnancy crying card) and won. Dad's okay with it now. Anne is from Mom's favorite book of all time, Anne of Green Gables.

2. I love my family. The whole crazy bunch of them. I'm especially fond of my Papa Rosson. If he's home, I'm his shadow. When he gets home from work, I empty his ice chest and then we play on his motorcycle. I can't wait 'til I'm big enough to ride for real. He's also my safe place when Mom and Dad try to make me sleep at night. If I run to him, he'll protect me.

3. I recently turned 2 and I'm trying my hardest to prove to my parents that I'm 2. I figure that it's my job to pay my mom back. At least that's what Nana says. She says I'm too big for my britches. Does anyone know what that means? Just because I can turn off the TV when no one else knows how and run to put out the placemats for dinner as soon as I see the cutting board does not mean that I'm too smart for my own good.

4. In a dream world, I would watch Little Einsteins from the time I get up until bedtime again. It's my favorite. I sing the songs and do the dances, but my mom starts twitching sometimes when we watch it. She's probably just as excited as I am.

5. I am a great traveler. I love the car. Since Mom made me ride to Arizona at 3 months I figure I might as well cooperate if they're gonna drag me around so much. And I don't even require a DVD player.

6. I love people. I have yet to meet a stranger in this world. Mom and Dad have never left me crying anywhere. Church, babysitter, you name it, I'm glad to be there. I even tried to give a kiss to the cashier at Michael's once but Mom stopped me. She's such a killjoy sometimes.

7. I am talking A LOT these days. My folks kept wanting me to talk and now they keep asking each other why they ever taught me to, but hey, a girl's got stuff to say.

8. I am quite attached to James and Brooke Chambless. James is my favorite person to play with and when Brooke came along she got swept into the mix. Most days when I wake up I ask to go play with "JamesBrooke" during the first 3 or so minutes out of bed. And, yes, I say their names as if it was one word "JamesBrooke".

9. I am way spoiled by those who love me. You should see my toy collection. It all started when I was the first girl born in 25 years on Mom's side and 30 on Dad's. These people had lots of girl shopping desires stored up. And I love it. I love playing with each and every toy I get. Mom says I look like a pinball machine when I bounce from thing to thing, but there's a lot to do in each day. No time to slow down.

10. I sleep with LOTS of baby dolls. It used to be 5, but now it has worked its way up to 7. And they have to all be there or I keep asking for "more babies" until everyone makes it. I also maked Daddy give each baby a kiss when he puts me to bed at night. This takes a very long time but he does it every time because he loves me so much.

There it is, a little about me, now I tag my friends Steven, Kasey, and Finn.

my cup runneth over....

It truly does. You see, a little over two years ago Josh and I were eagerly awaiting the arrival of our daughter and attending a church I had gone to for 16 years. However, things weren't going well and after much dragging of our feet we made the decision to find a new church. We chose to postpone looking until after the baby was born. It was an extremely hard step for me because so many people there were like my family. With all the good things though, there were some not so great also. There were very few young families like us and the ones that were there were not great examples for us on the marriage and parenting front. When we decided to find a new church home our list of what we were looking for included many things, one of which was the opportunity to meet families our own age and hopefully develop some good relationships there. Charleigh was born in early May, we took her to our church on Mother's Day and then never went back.

On Memorial Day weekend we were driving down Stockdale Highway discussing where we might want to visit the following day. A few months earlier we had gone to Laurelglen and Josh had really liked it. He suggested going there again. I suggested we try Grace Baptist where we also gone a few times before. It was around this time that we passed BCHS. We saw the sign for the Bridge and I commented, "Hey, that church is somehow connected to Laurelglen. Maybe we should go there. It's close to home and I would love to be part of a new and growing church." And so, Sunday morning we woke up and tried it. It was the first church we visited and the last. After that first Sunday I tried convincing Josh that we should try more than one place to see which one felt right. His response? "This one feels right. Why keep looking?"

We jumped in with both feet because we were so eager to meet others and get involved. According to one person (who shall remain nameless), it was as if we pretty much walked in and said "Hi, wanna be our friend?" This is somewhat true. It is now two years later and I cannot believe how much our life has changed. We have met such amazing people who we are getting to know better and better as time goes by. I have had the opportunity to meet women who actually take pride in their position as wives and moms while still being incredible individuals themselves. Additionally, Josh is also feeling comfortable with more of the guys which is such an answer to prayer in our household.

This brings me to the event that brought on this heartfelt expression of gratitude. Charleigh's birthday was a few weeks ago (obviously) and we planned a playdate at the park. My mom was able to have the day off and so I invited her to join us for the chance to see all the adorable kids at play. She later told me that she had prayed when we got there, "God, please let people come. Please don't let them stand her up." See, this was not an irrational fear. Something along this line had actually happened in our old world. And here is what happened this time............

And this isn't even all of you. All I can say is thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your openess to welcome our family. Thank you for your willingness to let the new girl in, even if she does have odd hair color choices. Our prayers have been answered to a greater degree than we ever imagined.

My cup really does runneth over.....

birthday in the park....

At last, we have reached the final birthday post. I have always been accused of having 3 birthdays each year (generally, one with family, one with friends, and one with my parents/husband). Personally, I think everyone's just jealous because they wish that they had 3 birthdays. Anywho, I feel that it is my duty as a mom to teach my daughter at a young age to play the multiple birthday game. So far, we have been successful both years. This year's number three was a playdate at the park with friends from church. Final tally was something like 11 moms and 20 kiddos. So busy but so much fun!!

Steven walking Charleigh over to the cupcakes
Savannah was a big fan
Camden and Steven
All the kiddos.....the moms all laughed when I asked for a pic of all of them,

but kids will surprise you. They actually stayed right here while

we took pictures and even longer!

Jacob and Rachael
Finn and Calvin
Tess
Henry

*Sidenote*: I know that I'm somewhat biased, but I think we collectively have the cutest kids ever!

the morning after.....

party time....

Wow. I can't believe how time has flown by. Charleigh is already two. It seems as if I was just barely holding this tiny thing in my arms, wondering if I would get tired of her being around all the time and now we've already reached the 2 year mark. Monday night we had her birthday party with our family. Honestly, it felt like complete chaos but overall it was a very nice time. She received soooo many gifts and has bounced like a pinball machine playing with all of them since that night. I love that she is a kid who likes to play with her toys. Even that night, in the midst of the chaos, she loved each thing and was equally excited opening each gift. It's one of my favorite things about her. We had two cakes, one Rocket cake(mostly for looks) and a Costco cake for people to actually eat. Charleigh had a piece of the Rocket one and then proceeded to carry it out to the grass, then further out to sit on the curbing in the backyard. I can only guess that this comes from being instructed to eat on the curb at Coco's house. After the festivities were over, we finally got the munchkin to bed at 10:30, still crying that she "wanted to play."

checking out the Little Einsteins cake Mama made
this isn't even all of them.........
the birthday girl with her cake

woohoo! look who turned 2......

Happy Birthday Charleigh Girl!!!!!

the littlest grammar nazi....

For quite awhile now Charleigh has answered all questions with "Um...." Being the intelligent parents that we are, we deduced that this meant yes. We would keep guessing what she was saying and when we got it right, she would say , "Um...." So for the past few months most conversations went like this:

Me/Josh: "Charleigh, do you want (fill in blank e.g.: food, drink, milk, toys, play,etc.)?"

Charleigh: "Ummm......."

Me/Josh: "Yeah?"

Charleigh: "Yeah."

And so we would fulfill the request and life would go on. Until two days ago.......when this happened:

Me/Josh: "Charleigh, do you want (fill in blank again)?"

Charleigh: "Ummm......"

Me/Josh: "Yeah?"

Charleigh: "Yes."

Yes? When did she start using better grammar than us? And where did she learn this? Now, each time we give the "Yeah?", she says "Yes" as clear as day. I have this strong feeling that she is going to be smarter than us........

in other news......

Here are some of the other recent going ons around here.... While watching James and Brooke one night, Josh attempted the ever popular double-horseback ride (don't be fooled by James' face....they loved it)
We are finally conquering the fear of the vaccum cleaner.
Quite the life, right? While in Newport, the queen managed to watch

Little Einsteins from this perch in my bed. The foot is truly my favorite part......
At night, it is a requirement to have all 5, yes that's right, 5 babies in bed with her. We often wonder how there is room for all of them. I recently got this rare glimpse into how the sharing actually goes on......

congrats, aunt Cabria.........

Woo-hoo!! A few weeks ago we got some great news......Charleigh is getting another cousin!! Josh's sister Cabria and her husband announced that they are expecting a little one sometime in November. Currently there is only Charleigh and my nephew Samuel. This is their first baby and we are so excited for them. To be honest, I'm also selfishly excited because it's a new reason to make a super cute baby blanket for somebody!

march for babies......

On April 26th, Josh and I and my mom will be participating in the March of Dimes March for Babies walk. We will be part of a team from my mom's work. The team name is Nabors for Misty and Alexia. While we believe strongly in the wonderful things that March of Dimes does for premature babies and their families, we have joined this walk in remembrance of Misty Rocha and her daughter Alexia. This is the team's second year of participating. Misty was a coworker of my mom's. She had the most amazing personality and a stronger faith than most people I've ever met. She was always ready with a smile and word of encouragement or a verse she'd read that she felt God wanted her to pass on to you. In the summer of 2006, Misty became pregnant with her second child, a daughter. In early fall the doctors informed her that the baby had severe deformities and wouldn't live past birth if it even survived long enough to be delivered. All of them told her to terminate the pregnancy at that time. Misty resolutely informed the doctors and all those around her that God had given her peace about it and that He would take care of her and her daughter and that they would be just fine. On January 4, 2007 she delivered Alexia Rocha who was stillborn at birth. Little did anyone know that a few short hours later, Misty would be gone also. While it is hard to understand why God would call a 21-year-old mother home so soon, we who know Misty is truly home see that she was right. God did take care of her and her daughter and they are just fine. For those of us who knew her, we wanted a way to do something in her memory. In comes the March of Dimes walk. Josh and I are looking to raise our sponsorship funds for the walk and we would love it any of you would like to contribute. Donations can be given to us personally or through my website http://www.marchforbabies.org/carrielagore

Thanks

easter with Mama's family....

The day started with my famly. We had a yummy brunch that included a semi-competition of quiches between me and my mom (hers won). Charleigh is the only small child so she had to find something like 22 eggs all by herself. Task completed. She loves all the attention, being the first little girl born in our family in 25 years.....

Easter basket from Nana and Papa
checking out her loot
apparently the eggs are more interesting than

pictures with cousin Candice

munching a cupcake in her undies...

(this WT pic's for you Lorie.....)

a lady called Beach.....

So, Beach the person (see previous beach post) is my daughter's name for my aunt Sandy. A few weeks ago as we pulled up in front of her house, Charleigh starts saying "Beach! Beach!" As best we can figure she got this name because my aunt's boyfriend would always tell the baby "Wanna go to the beach?" every time he saw her. We try to get her to say Aunt Sandy, but she'll just tell us "No, Beach!" Last weekend on our way to the real beach we got to about Taft and Charleigh starts crying hysterically for "Beach". Apparently, she was under the impression that we were going to Beach's house....so now we'll evidently be going to see Beach or going to see the ocean.......

one of those days.....

...or more like, one of those weeks. I know that it sounds ridiculous, what with it having just been Easter which is one of my favorite days of the year and all, but for about a week now, I have totally been struggling. I feel as if I am in a funk and just can't seem to pull out. Someone advised me to try writing out my thoughts so that's what I'm doing. Hopefully it'll help clear my mind and not just sound like I'm whining. I don't really know what the problem is, it just seems to be there. Every time it seems to get better, another day comes that just seems to reinforce all my insecurities about myself. I was talking to a good friend a couple days ago and told her that I guess I always want to think that if I could only be this way or look that way or have this or do that, I wouldn't have all these awkward, geeky qualities. But I'm starting to think that's not true. I probably really know it's not true. The most frustrating part is that the voice inside telling me that these issues I have are just an exaggeration and so not logical just keeps getting drowned out by the one saying the opposite. I'm hoping that this beautiful spring weather and the adorable and semi-well potty-trained little girl I love so much will both be catalysts to bring me out of this, but for now please be praying for me ........

the beach.....

don't you wish this physique warranted a bikini in your 20's also?

the Baywatch shot.....baby to the rescue!!
what is a day at the beach without ice cream?

Saturday morning, the three of us drove over to Pismo to spend the day at the beach. Not to be confused with Beach the person (post on this to come later). The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we had such a fun time. Our little munchkin had absolutely no fear of the water, unlike her daddy. As the waves would come in she tried pulling him farther into the water. Seeing as how it felt like melted ice water we figure that our child is going to be a bit of a fish this summer. And now for some shots of our bikini babe.......