Update on Choodle and Charlotte

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Hey friends!  I have continued to be so busy and barely have time to come online anymore.  I don't know how moms stay at home...it's the hardest job on earth!  I respect my own mother so much more now that I have a human child.

Last Monday we had our meeting with the pediatric orthopedic surgeon regarding Charlotte's hip (Charlotte is my 10 week daughter..human that is...).  Turns out, she does not have true hip dysplasia.  Her balls are in the sockets, so to speak!  What is not 100% formed correctly is the cartilage surrounding it.  I am not going to get into tons of details, but bottom line is that doctor feels it will correct itself and doesn't recommend we do a harness (wouldn't really correct it anyway).  We go back in 6 weeks on December 31st for a repeat ultrasound. Fingers crossed on that!!  I don't think the surgeon was very worried though, so I am not going to.

I go back to work January 2nd so am enjoying my last third of maternity leave as much as I can.  We had company last week for the holiday and they brought strep throat.  DH is sick and talked the doc into calling in a zpack for me today just to be proactive.  Moms can't get sick...you know how that goes!!!  Charlotte, meanwhile, has a nasty cold from the kids, so I have been doing the saline solution with followup suctioning, humidifier in the room, blanket to elevate one side of crib mattress, etc....  So Sunday night she slept through the night.  Then she got the cold and I feel like I am back to where we were a month ago!  Anyway, we are getting through it!  Normal stuff, right???

Dogs are GREAT.  They are so wonderful with sweet Charlotte.  Taquito likes to try to sit on my lap while I nurse.  When we are back in her room, they like to both lay on the rug while I rock her or when we are playing or having tummy time on the floor.  When she is napping, I generally close the door to her room, because if I don't, Peri pushes the door open and goes to check on her every few minutes and ends up waking her!  So instead I find Peri sleeping outside of Charlotte's nursery on the hallway rug runner a lot :)  Peri likes to kiss Charlotte whenever possible and I let her do it...until C gets too sick of it and I tell Peri to "leave it" gently and she does :)

I try to walk Charlotte most days.  And YES, I NEVER LEAVE THE DOGS AT HOME.  Even though walking a baby in a jogging stroller with two dogs ain't a walk in the park!  Yesterday we did 3 miles of hills and about halfway into it, I had to put Tacky in the bottom basket :)  

Here are some pics of life lately.  I hope you are all doing well. I feel like I have been so self-centered lately, but honestly, it's just been so hectic I don't know where the days go.

Miss you all!!!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

So happy to hear your good news (don't you just hate it when a Dr. gives you something to freak out over and it turns out to have been for nothing).  Sounds like you are settling right in to being a Mom.  I'm sure your Mom appreciated you comment on appreciating her even more now as well!  Love the pictures.  Drop in when you can as I love seeing your updates!

[Jennifer and Jack]

I am so happy for the update! Great News!!!! Don't worry about us..we are here! Lots of love to you all!

[Adina P]

Awwwwe...so much sweetness, and what GREAT news about her hips!  PHEW!  What a load off your worried mommy shoulders =)  I'm so glad the doggies love Charlotte.  By the way, you are NOT selfish at all, you're taking care of your more precious family members and really that's more than enough.  It does get easier, and she WILL sleep through the night again.  Gets better, then worse, then better, then worse, then better, and so on =)  Once my kids hit 6 months it began getting so much easier...then at 11 and 14 months they each started STTN.  Then things were glorious until my oldest hit 2...but even that was not bad.  Exhausting, but still super fun.  I really like being (mostly) a SAHM. It gets monotonous, but life with a newborn is very different than life with a crawling baby than life with a toddler, and so on.  They change constantly for a while.  Anyway, thanks for stopping by and sharing, I was wondering about you JUST today!

[Camilla and Darwin]

Thanks for updating, that is such good news about sweet Charlotte! She is adorable!