Charlotte Blessing Pictures

So this is a little late--but I just got the pics of Charlotte on her blessing day and I wanted to share! She wore the same dress I wore when I was blessed (thanks for taking such good care of it, Mom!)

Apparently I was a lot fatter than she is, because she was swimming in this dress.

Big stretch!
You gotta love a good crying face!

Some fun things . . .

Charlotte slept through the night last night! Hurray! She slept from 10:30 pm to 6:45 am and I was so proud of her.

Also fun--at the gym I saw my first live raccoon. He meandered in front of the window when I was on the treadmill and I got so excited. Nobody else there thought it was very special though.

Since we moved in, Peter has often says when he has walked in that the apartment smells like curry. We finally checked our mail at the new place and these are the names of people that used to live here:

Yegna Ramasubramania

Nemali Balakrishnan

Yashodhan Joshi

Kamakshi Balakrishnan

Yegna Balasubrananian

Curry indeed!


Charlotte can use her bumbo now! She does not always love it but she is so cute in it.


More bumboness . . .


I love the bit of chub she gets under her eyes when she smiles!

I don't know why I couldn't get this picture the right way, but here she is just hanging out with her daddy.

Charlotte and her smiles!

We blessed our sweetie Charlotte today and it was an awesome experience. We have been the luckiest parents to get such a darling baby and I will post some pics from that soon.

Here is a video of her hanging out with her Uncle Kevin (it is kind of noisy in the background but that is the best we have for now). She was really smiley and talkative today . . .

And here she is just hanging out on the ground.

Our Apartment

Here is a virtual tour of our apartment almost all unpacked . .

Our move to Michigan . . . take 2

Within a week, we received a job offer, packed up our apartment in Texas, and moved to Michigan where Peter has already started his new job. It was too amazing of a job offer to pass up as Peter will get to work on the Viper team.

While we went from a high of 80 degrees to a high of 40 degrees with a chance of snow tonight, moving to Michigan definitely has its perks.
Peter's family lives here and it is a blast being by them.
It is beautiful here right now and I got to see some leaves in their fall splendor.

And one of my favorite perks . .
I get to buy Charlotte lots of new clothes! Here she is nice and toasty warm. She also has a sweet bear suit and some fun tights so she can be stylish in the cold.





Charlotte is starting to smile lots each day and here is the tail end of one. Anytime we get our camera out she gets shy and so we haven't got a full on smile in a picture yet.










There are tons of things that we will miss about Texas (the warmth, the tex mex, the community events) but most of all we will miss our friends. We had the best friends there and will miss them the most.

Baby Lottie

Our sweet Charlotte is 6 weeks today and we have had so much fun with her. We are all starting to understand each other better now and she is such a joy. She has also finally learned that the binky is her friend (Hallelujah for binkies!). Lottie is finally in the 9 lb range but these pictures are from a couple weeks ago.


This is her favorite way to sleep--arms straight up! Also, her umbilical cord is now finally gone, but you can see it here (blech).


We took a bunch of pictures here trying to show how cute her face is but this is the best we got. She got kind of fed up by the end.



Her second favorite way of sleeping. And who better to nap with than Grandma?


I'll post some more recent ones shortly!

Charlotte Rose Andrew

Our precious baby girl was born Wednesday at 11:48 am, and was 7 lbs 7 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. We are so happy and slightly tired, but she is a great sleeper (when she's not on an eating marathon) and a ravenous eater (when she's not so passed out that we can't wake her).












Tuesday night I woke Peter up at 12:00 and told him he needed to get up and get ready because I was having contractions to which he replied, "Come get me when you have another one." To which I promptly pulled down his covers and told him it was time to go.
So we had the best experience at the hospital where they treated us wonderfully and our good friend Dave Digi saved my life by giving me an awesome epidural. My doctor also did a wonderful job and Peter cut the cord. (apparently he is okay with blood as long as it is not his own.)
The second our sweet girl was out she let out a huge wail and has been super snuggly from that day on.

10 Days Left! (okay, probably more like 17 left, but a girl can wish, right?)

This pregnancy has been quite a ride and I am oh-so looking forward to the prize of a darling baby at the end.
The comments people have given me vary quite a bit and often leave me wondering if they have not had any exposure to a pregnant lady

Some of the best (worst) ones:
When are you due--yesterday? You look like you are ready to pop!

Your belly is so huge! (To which i thought, well, yes, seeing as I am over 8 months pregnant i would imagine it would be on the large side. Thanks so much for pointing that out)

You must be having a boy, you are carrying really low! (I get this one surprisingly often, and typically from older women. When I tell them I am having a girl a few have asked if I am sure and that I should have my doctor check again.)

What are you going to do if you have your baby right now? Like, right now? I have my permit--I could drive you to the hospital! (from a well-meaning 15-year-old that is friends with the girls I nanny)

What were you thinking being pregnant in Texas in August? Have you heard that this is one of the hottest summers on record?


But for all of those, I get the kind comments from other mothers/my sweet husband that I look great. So thanks to all of you! Hopefully she will come join us soon but I am not holding my breath.


On a funny note, Peter had to get his blood drawn at our apartment this evening for insurance purposes. And as we know, Peter does not do well with needles. I snuck this picture of him right after he got his blood drawn with his head between his knees to keep from passing out.



and here is me and the cat laughing at him

Yet another attempt at a second car . . .

We haven't had the best luck in the transportation department, what with the scooter being stolen and the miata being totaled, but we thought we'd give it another go.
Rather than get another two seater, Peter found me the best mom car ever! We feel like we are on our way to being grown ups now, purchasing something like this. But it is such a cute car and we both love it.


It is a 2006 Ford Escape in just about perfect condition. I think baby Andrew will appreciate it.

The miata has gone the way of all the earth

Tragedy has struck our family, in that Peter's baby is totaled. He went on a ride with a friend after church and next thing he knew, the car was upside down next to a park. It started with catching some air on a dip in the road, which then sent the car wild. It got sideways and hit a pole, and then a fire hydrant, which eventually flipped them. While both the driver and Peter survived with hardly a scratch (we are counting our blessings), our little miata did not. Peter called me to come pick him up and this is the sight I saw when I arrived.



As you can see, the car is now a pancake. In the next picture you can see how far the fire hydrant was dragged. Kind of surprising that no water gushed out! Also, the city was nice enough to send a bill to our insurance to fix it.



Here you can see how the windshield just completed bent but provided just enough of a cushion for the boys to get out. Peter was able to get out by himself but the driver had a hard time getting his seatbelt undone and was cut out by the fire department.


And finally, the car after the tow guy flipped it.


It is really sad to see this car go but we are so grateful Peter was safe and watched over!

Hawaii: Take 1--Things Peter Caught

So my spry, handsome husband and I went to Hawaii for a babymoon/anniversary trip. And while I managed to lose many things, he managed to catch many more. So we just about evened out.
In this picture he is "catching" a miniature horse with one of my many snacks that I brought with us. Hopefully he likes fiber one bars! It was super random to see this horse on the Road to Hana and we also bought some amazing banana bread on this stop. (this was not shared with the horse)


On our last day, we went to the beautiful island of Lanai where we saw the funniest crabs that could only run sideways. Probably the funniest thing ever was watching Peter and these crabs dance around while he tried to catch them. As you can see in the picture, this guy isn't too happy and about 5 seconds after this picture gave Peter a good pinch.


During some snorkeling (after I lost my snorkel set for the 2nd time in a wave, only to have Peter recover it shortly thereafter) he found a rock with a few sea urchins in it. I think we both also lost our sunglasses on this beach in a wave, but found those as well.


By far the scariest thing that Peter caught was Herpies in the eye. Yup, herpies. So after some pain, an eyepatch, and an emergency room visit, his infection started to get better and he is now 100%.


Near where we were staying was Iao Valley, which had a need lava needle that was previously used by warriors to watch for enemies. Just as cool as the lava needle was the dozens of chickens running all over. Which, of course, we chased like crazy.


Also on the Road to Hana we caught some delicious bananas covered with spiders. Yummy!


More to come on our trip later, but it was such a blast.

You Spin Me Right Round Baby Right Round

Today was Peter's inaugural Autocross event. Auto crossing is a race against the clock to see who can get the best time around a course that's set up with cones. There are different classes for different engine sizes, type of tires, etc.

Here's my 6th of 8 runs:



Wow, what happened and how did I end up facing the wrong way!? This next one was my last and final one. Time around the course was 65:457, which I was thrilled with. Even managed to keep it pointed the right way!



Unfortunately for Emily, I have a new found love (third love, I guess, behind Emily and baby). This is only the first of many auto crosses that she'll likely be dragged out to. Maybe after the baby comes, we'll put Em behind the wheel!

It's a girl! At least, we are 75% sure it is . . .

Our doctor appointment was a little over 2 weeks ago, and since our little baby decided to be modest (or just is really really comfortable sitting Indian style) the doctor had quite the time trying to get a peek at the goods. We kept jiggling her around and doing everything possible--he even left for 20 min and let me walk around for a while, but in the end, we are left with a 75% answer. Here is a pic of how big she (okay, really me) has gotten:

And apparently I am carrying super super low and my belly button doesn't quite seem to agree. I think Peter carries the pregnant look off much better:
Even though we aren't positive she's a girl (even as I call her a she), I could not resist a stop at baby Gap. Some of the darling clothes I got her:
More cute clothes she can wear for a week:
Girl or boy, we are so excited! My next appointment is in about 10 days and we should have the final verdict then.

Austin, TX

So Peter and I were feeling spontaneous the other weekend, and it was nice weather, so we took a road trip in the miata (yes, with the top down) to Austin. Since we have been Texans for almost a year now, I guess it was time to visit the capital.

This is us in front of some of the beautiful buildings at University of Texas. It is a really cool and huge campus--stretched out a lot further than BYU but with a lot less stairs.
We actually had to take this picture quite a few times because Peter kept saying I was doing a "fake smile". (probably true, i am no good at pictures) I'm sure all the college kids thought we were nuts.

Peter has recently cut his hair, so it is good we have this shot to remember it! We went to a restaurant called the Oasis that sits over Lake Travis and in the evenings there is the most gorgeous view of the sunset.
Another at the same place . . .
Our Kayak adventure (not sure which river/lake) where Peter did almost entirely all the paddling. (pregnant ladies shouldn't exert themselves too much, haha)
Some turtles that we scared while kayaking
This statue was funny, because Peter goes, "That is a fierce looking lady." I look at the name plate and it is a statue of Stephen Austin. Whoops! You can't help but admire his curls, though.
A shot of the inside of the capitol building. I have never seen so many Texas stars in my life! And did you know that Texas is the only state where they are allowed to fly the state flag as high as the nation's flag?
An outside shot of the capitol on the beautiful spring day that it was.

BABY!!

Most of you probably already know, but I am with child. And we are so excited! So excited in fact, that when we went out and bought a bedroom set for said child (we got a killer deal), we stayed up until 1 putting it together that night.

Or more correctly, I attempted to help and made a mess while Peter put the furniture together. But it is great! It is the first official thing we have bought for the baby and now I can't wait to put little clothes in the drawers and little diapers on the shelves.
Our crib, currently bedding-less.
Hooray for babies!