"It's The Most Wonderful Time....of the year!"

Or is it???  As much as I love this time of year, I really don't love shopping this time of year!  The shopping began Black Friday.  We LOVE Black Friday shopping at 4am, but it'll wear you out that's for sure.   From there I decided to shop online for most of the rest needed.  Shopping online is a much better idea, let me tell you!  I tried to get out and about to finish a final few gifts at a few stores and it was NUTS!  Not only are there zero parking spots, but people are just crazy everywhere.  The lines are long, the stores are a mess, and it just doesn't seem like "the most wonderful time of the year."  I will remind myself to start super early next year and also take advantage of online shopping.  You might think paying the shipping cost is a waste, but I say not.  Shopping online is my new favorite friend :)

The topic of discussion last weekend was "to tree or not to tree?"  We thought our floors would be installed a few days ago (and what a mess that is going to be), but turns out it will be the 28th.  I just couldn't bare NOT putting up a tree for C's first Christmas so I made the journey to Wally World and purchased a 6 1/2 foot prelit tree, added some multi-colored lights and a few ornaments and "ta-da" it is now Christmas in The Roden home :)  So glad I did!  Let me note that there are TWO trees (much bigger) up in the attic right now but I am too freaked out over spiders these days to get up there and hunt for all the xmas stuff so I opted to just buy new. 

Once the tree was up we took Charli for her visit to see Santa.  We tried two different Santas and she just wasn't gonna be happy with either.  I am not sure if it is the bright red suit, the long white beard, or just the stranger part of it but she wasn't buying it.  We'll just try again next year :)  I hear the Santa in Allen and the one in Northpark are just amazing!  Maybe we'll try there!

    

Backtracking a bit....another fav of this month was getting to go to the Adolphus parade.  It was a blast and Charli LOVED all the floats, characters, and bands that played.  It was freezing, but so fun!  It was the perfect way to start the holiday season! 

                                                                           

One thing is for sure, I truly do love the holidays.  I love being out of school and able to spend time with my sweet baby girl and jolly good husband.  I also look forward to visiting with our families and making memories with them.  The time is really just flying by ya know.  It seems like just a short while ago I was getting ready to have Charli and now we can't imagine life without her!  Darren and I feel so fortunate to have her and such wonderful people in our lives.  Merry Christmas!

What a week!

So I guess you can say we haven't had the best of weeks!  Charli had a flare up with her eczema last Monday and it is so frustrating for her and us.  I let her oral meds run out and didn't schedule the doc exam because it was doing so good.  Well, I learned to not let that happen!  Poor thing didn't sleep much Monday and Tuesday and she seemed fussy and uncomfortable.  This is not Charli's norm.  I was lucky to get a last minute appt. with the allergist and they changed our meds up.  We are taking Zantac twice a day (just a small amount) and also Zyrtec once a day.  A little bit of hydrocortizone cream and tons of Vanicream on the skin and boy have things turned around!!!  We have our fun loving happy baby back!!!!  Eczema is so frustrating.  You have to tackle it everyday.  Many friends who have experienced this skin disorder with their children have shared their strategies.  I have learned that what works for one doesn't always work for the next person.  We know she has allergies to several different things and we certatinly try to limit her from those things.  We do not let her anywhere around peanuts and eggs!  The cats and dogs are a bit hard to keep her away from though.  It can always be so many things: dust, indoor/outdoor allergies, environmental, clothing, food allergies, etc.  Educating yourself is key to tackling it as well!

Just as we thought we would get sleep Wed. night, I got up about midnight to find standing water in the hallway, hall bath,, and our bedroom carpet.  We had some sort of sewer blockage which decided to back up all in the house!  I tackled the drains and washed those down with bleach to rid the smell, grabbed every towel in the house and tried to make it through the night (sleeping 4 am - 6 am isn't the best).  Thurs. we got the insurance company involved as well as the restoration company and the City of Lewisville.  Luckily, Lewisville will come out and clean the lines up to 2 times a year FREE!  This would normally have to be done by a plumber.  That fixed the program.  Well, not the damages.  The restoration company tore out our bedroom carpets, some of the wood floors, and all baseboards along most of the walls in that part of the house.  Luckily the city determined the blockage to be on the residential side so insurance will pay less our deductible.  YAY!  I guess our Thanksgiving break will consist of lots of cleaning and dealing with floor companies and insurance company.  I guess I need to figure out who fixes the baseboards?

To top off this delightful week, i woke up Sat. to a strange golf ball size place on my thigh.  It hurt really bad.  It swelled up all day to a huge raised blister full of fluid.  I ended up at the doctor Sat. afternoon and he prescribed antibiotics.  It looks like a spider bite and was no infected. 

What else?  NOTHING!!!  We have had our share this week to last us another 2 years at least :)  Here are some pics to show off our crazy week!

Miss Priss is 10 months old!

Well, I am still waiting on time to slow down and it doesn't seem to be happening!!  Charli had her 9 month pics taken with Michelle Frick a couple of weeks ago.  We decided to shoot outside at the park in Frisco.  The wind was blowing and there were a few distractions, but of course Michelle managed to capture many amazing pics for us!

Charli has become quiet the mama's girl these days!  We have so much fun together!  We went to the carnival at my school this weekend and Charli was so excited to see everyone.  She was a trooper and let everyone just pass her around.  We decided to drive to Sulphur Springs after the carnival and surprise Meme and Pop.  They were definitely surprised!!  We made their weekend that is for sure!  Just two weeks till Thanksgiving.  I am definitely ready for a break from the normal routine! 

Happy Halloween

Charli's first Halloween has been fun. There is not too much to do with a 10 month old (yes, Charli turned 10 months on the 29th!!!!) on Halloween, but we made the most of it! We started the day off with a flu shot (fun for her huh!) and then we visited Grandma and Papa Roden. Then we were off to get some photos taken of C in her costume. She is a spider in a web.

It is too cute! When I was a little girl my mother always made Halloween so fun! We always decorated the front porch all up scarey (even played scarey music) and my mom sometimes dressed up like a witch. When Charli gets a little older I will try and make things a bit more memorable for her. Halloween night here at our house is a lot of football and passing out candy to the little trick or treaters that stop by. Happy Halloween to all of you!!

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe Charli is just a week away from being 10 months old! Where has the time gone? It seems like just a month or two ago when we brought her home from the hospital. I can honestly say I have embraced every single minute of every day with her. Everyone told me how fast the time would fly and they were so right. It is so very bittersweet!!

This past weekend Darren and I took Charli to the State Fair of Texas for her first visit. When I was a kid, my parents brought me and my sisters to the fair every year during TX/OU weekend.

Darren and I have visited every year we have been together as well and we hope to keep this tradition going with Charli now. My parents and my sister Shelley and her two sons Shaddox and Shaden came and met us at the fair. We were very sad Shelbi and Travis couldn't make it. They already had plans to go to U2 in Oklahoma.

Shelley and I had a BLAST riding the old school rides at the fair!

MeMe had a GREAT time playing with Shaddox and Charli all day! She held Charli almost the entire time. She said Charli kept telling her she wanted to go home with MeMe and Pop, but I just wouldn't let her go! :)

Life is great!

Ok, so I am TOTALLY new to this blogging thing! I am a Facebook junkie and enjoy a little scrapbooking at Shutterfly and that is about it. Although I am pretty "tech friendly," I am not experienced with Photoshop nor with Blogspot. So...bare with me as I am a newbie!

Michelle Frick has been taking Charli's "Baby's First Year" pics.  This is her 6 month pic.  The pic on the main page is also taken by Michelle.  She is just amazing at capturing those perfect moments!   

  Charli decided to cooperate and pose for a pic on the horsie at Chuck E Cheese at a birthday party.  She was still a bit wobbly at sitting up and holding herself up so we had to shoot quick!! 

Life is great! Darren, Charli and I are loving our life together. Charli is 6 months old and just a week away from 7 months. The joy she brings to our lives is just amazing. Our families just can't get enough of her. My parents, Meme and Pop, live an hour and a half away so they don't get to see her every weekend, but we make time very regularly to meet up and visit often.

 My sister Shelley had a baby boy, Shaddox, just 7 weeks after Charli was born. We are so excited to watch our babies grow up together! Shelbi continues to spoil her with clothes and kisses. She and Travis live in Longview so it is tricky getting together.

  Darren's family is just as in love with her.  His parents and brother and sister think the world of Charli.  We are very lucky to be surrounded by so many wonderful loving people.

Smiles!