Charlie Returns...

I'm talking about THE Charlie, the not-so-miniature daschund.

Full name: Charlie Brown Langley
Nicknames: Prince Charles, Chunky Charlie, The Tank, Dumbo (not because he lacks intelligence because he's rather smart, but because of his enormous ears that he's had to grow into), and Slobber Face (he drools like no other)

Here's his before shot:
Cute, huh?

If you remember, my wonderful husband (and I'm not being sarcastic because I really do think he's wonderful) Josh got me Charlie as a surprise gift for my birthday last year. I was OH so surprised and wasn't sure what to think. He's a cute little stinker, but I was not mentally prepared to take on the responsibility of raising another puppy. We were thinking about having a kid at that time and I started to stress out about raising a child and a puppy. Maggie Mae, our first daschund, seemed so easy to train and caught on pretty fast. I struggled with Charlie... to his defense, we only had him for a short time and my patience with him was lacking. AND Maggie Mae didn't quite handle the new sibling very well. SO, he got re-gifted and was given to Josh's parents for their birthdays. We are such great children!!

Josh's parents love Charlie and I'm thankful that he could go to such a loving home. We see him every now and then, and Maggie and Charlie play better together now. This week, we had the pleasure of puppysitting Mr. Charlie while Josh's parents are on a mission trip.

Here's Charlie when Josh's parents left the house. I guess he knew what he was in for at the Langley household...Here's Maggie's Ball that Charlie decided to eat (and when I say "eat", I mean chew and digest) - notice his enormous ear that seems to stand up on its own every now and then: Here's what Maggie thinks of Charlie:The boy was a handful this week - everything from wanting in and out of the house every 2-3 minutes, to barking right when Jack seemed to fall asleep. Maggie wasn't any better with her growling. I wish they could learn to play quietly. I made a point to get out of the house everyday this week. I don't have anything planned for tomorrow, but I'm sure Jack and I will make it out of the house once more to get away from the chaos! The week was a challenge, but we survived it! I'm giving myself a pat on the back!!

Off to Work We Go!!

Jack and I visited Key Construction last Friday. It was so good to see everyone and have everyone meet Jack! I'm not back at work yet - I still have 5 more weeks, which I KNOW will fly by so fast! Sorry fellow estimators, but you guys seem to be doing fine without me! My friend Kristyn took some pictures of Jack with everyone. She's real good about having her camera on her at all times. Here are a few shots she got:
Aaron and Jack... Jack says Aaron might be ready for kids pretty soon! He looks like a pro! :)Andrea and Jack... he's staring at her and loves that she's loving on him!Adam and Jack... they're chillin'...Grandpa Robert and Jack... Robert didn't want to hold the little monkey because he was afraid he'd get jinxed with real grandkids.Aunt Kristyn and Jack... Jack ALWAYS loves to be held by his fav Auntie!Jack and Aunt Veronica... Jack loves his Aunt "V"!

More Funny Faces

Taken when Jack visited Key Construction...

Best Friends Forever

Jack is fortunate to already have so many friends! Just of boys alone that are about his age, there's:

-Cason - 8 weeks older

-Logan - 3 weeks older

-Lincoln - 6 weeks younger (was just born yesterday!)

-Baby Boy Mayberry - due in October

...and the verdict is still out on 3 other babies!!

With so many boys in our circle of friends, we've been fortunate to receive and pass on hand-me downs - everything from unused diapers, to shoes, socks, and clothes! It's great because with all the clothes we currently have, we don't have to do laundry so often. I think Josh and I kidded ourselves when we thought we'd only need 8-10 newborn outfits the first couple of weeks. We were doing laundry every 2-3 days just so the little monkey would have something clean to wear! Here's what Logan recently brought over for Jack. It was overwhelming how much there was. THANKS LOGAN!! Lincoln will get all this stuff next - Happy Birthday Lincoln!!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is my 27th birthday - wow. That much closer to 30! This is my first birthday as a momma and I didn't think mom's got to celebrate birthdays. Well, this momma did... (remember that for me, just getting out of the house these days is something to celebrate!!)

I was almost certain that Jack was going to sleep through the night for me for my birthday, especially since it's his 6 week birthday. He didn't, BUT he did let me take 2 good naps with him during the day, which almost never happens. I always seem to find something else to do or take care of, but I decided to rest today.

Since he's so much older now, I thought I'd let him try the bouncer again. We tried it out a few weeks ago and he didn't so much care for it. He seemed to enjoy it this time and even fell asleep in it. Isn't he precious?!I am almost certain that Jack smiled at me today, too. I didn't get it on camera, of course, but I KNOW I made him smile. Hopefully I can get a picture posted soon to show you. Up until today, he's only smiled in his sleep.

Josh made a point to make it home by 6 so that I could have dinner with my coolest friend ever, Kristyn. We went to PF Chang's, our fav, and had lettuce wraps and Mongolian Beef. YUM!! It was fun to catch up with her and to spend some time with someone older than 6 weeks old. She got me some awesome gifts that I'm excited about using, including a gift card to STARBUCKS. She knows how to spoil her friends. Here she is with Jack. Look at the little monkey's face - he started to fuss because he didn't want her to leave!! Jack loves his Aunt Kristyn! She spoils him, too.

Finally, Josh surprised me with the WHOLE Cosby DVD set. I LOVE the Cosby Show and watched it growing up with my family. I can't wait to watch them all with Jack one day. It's one of the greatest shows ever. I think Bill Cosby is HI-larious and I love his clean humor. I've even won tickets to one of his shows at Bass Hall by proving how much I love the Cosbys. The unfortunate news is that I won't be watching any of the shows while I'm at home during maternity leave... our monthly electric bill went from $80 (yep, $80.00) to $240 since I've been home. Funny thing is, I usually have the TV on just for noise because we don't have cable and there's never anything good on. So now, I'm more conscious about keeping the TV off, leaving the lights off during the day (I'm bad about leaving them on during the day because I like light), and keeping the thermostat at 79 degrees. Hopefully that helps next month's bill!

Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes on facebook, all your emails, and phone calls! I'm so glad we still get to celebrate birthdays when we get to be this old! The Lord is so gracious to give me such an awesome family and loving friends!

Diaper Duty (or 'Doodie', as Courtney would say)

So Jack moved up to Size 1 diapers this week. It's hard to believe how fast he's grown! One thing we have enjoyed about the Newborn diapers is the yellow stripe that turns blue/green when the diaper is wet. Sure has made life just a tad bit easier for us! We're finding out that the indicator stripe is not so common with Size 1 and up diapers. What a disappointment! You'd think all diapers would come this way - who wouldn't want to take advantage of the stripe? Well, I had given up on trying to find the Size 1 diapers with the stripe, but low and behold, I found some at Wal-mart the other day! I got so giddy (yes, over diapers). I went ahead and splurged on a couple of packs because it was worth it to me. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a picture of them. Don't worry, we plan to slowly wean off of the stripe so we don't get too attached...