wordless wednesday: here comes trouble.

it's all happening so fast...

do you ever wish you could hit "pause" on life?
just to enjoy the moment just a wee bit longer?
charlie's growing up so fast. where has the time gone?

ana, thanks for pushing the pause button on our memories.
even if, it was just for one afternoon.

images by ana brandt.

8.15

sorry for the rather quick & sudden disappearance. being a mom to three can sometimes be just a wee bit stressful and overwhelming (but so, totally, totally worth it). so, when life gets crazy & hectic, little things start to drop... the laundry, showering, making dinner, & unfortunately blogging. but i'm back, at least for today.

so, by now, you are probably wondering what today's title means. any guesses? 8.15... is it a date? a measurement of time? perhaps it represents a distance of some sort. actually, it's a measurement of weight: 8 pounds 15 ounces. that's how much charlie weighs today. woot! woot! confused? wondering what all the excitement's about? well, to make a long story short-ish, little baby charlie has what's called "failure to thrive." never heard of it? basically it means that she is having a hard time gaining weight. maybe now, you can better understand, that all-too-sudden & definitely unexpected blog vacay... finding out you're practically starving your baby, tends to leave a mother feeling like a complete & utter failure.

at birth, charlie weighed 7 pounds even. definitely not huge, but she wasn't exactly tiny either. unfortunately, battling an awful case of thrush & taking some heavy-duty antibiotics. (the side effects of which include: nausea, stomach pain, low fever & loss of appetite. all of which charlie experienced on daily basis for about a month, which resulted in one very, very un-happy baby doll.) well, all this drama, caused little charlie to slowly eat less & less, which resulted in me producing less & less milk, unbeknownst to me. so, at 2 1/2 months charlie weighed just 7 pounds, 11 ounces & was taking in only about 1 and 1/2 ounce, of the suggested 4 ounces needed at each feeding. ay crumba! upon learning the news, that not only was charlie teeny tiny for her age, she had completely fallen OFF the growth chart, suddenly we went into survival mode, as you can imagine... feeding her every 2 hours, round the clock (sorry charlie! no more sleeping in for you!), nursing her, & then supplementing her with formula. oh heavens! i feel like all i do is feed this poor child! now, at 3 whole months, charlie weighs a whopping 8 pounds 15 ounces. still really, really small. & i still need to closely monitor her eating & feeding. but, she is once again, back on the growth chart. wahoo! don't believe me? here's the proof.

so, while we aren't completely out of the woods, yet. i can safely say, we are on our way. i hope you don't mind if we celebrate the little weight gains along the way. next week are hoping to cross the 9 pound mark - now that will truly be cause for celebration. one day, i'm sure, little charlie will complain about how hard it is to lose weight. i'll just have to remind her of the days when we were absolutely thrilled to hear she had gained a pound.

bathing beauty.

just keeping cool.

introducing...

images & design via ana brandt

sugar & spice & everything nice

it's amazing how you can speak right to my heart
without saying a word you can light up the dark
try as i may i could never explain
what i hear when you don't say a thing

the smile on your face lets me know that you need me
there's a truth in your eyes sayin' you'll never leave me
the touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever i fall
you say it best when you say nothing at all

all day long i can hear people talking out loud
but when you hold me near, you drown out the crowd
old mr. webster could never define
what's being said between your heart and mine

the smile on your face lets me know that you need me
there's a truth in your eyes sayin' you'll never leave me
the touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever i fall
you say it best when you say nothing at all

- alison krauss

today was historic...

that's right! today, charlie made her first official visit to the happiest place on earth& received hervery own pair of mickey ears to celebrate the occasion.