You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. Psalm 119:114

I haven't been as good as I'd like to be about documenting these first few weeks of Charlie's life. The days are hectic, fun, exhausting, and they seem to fly by before I can get my phone or camera out to capture the details. I know I will forget it all so quickly. I feel like so many little details about Charlie's first days at home have already slipped my mind (perhaps because we're in a sleep deprived haze? :))

3 week old smiles :) 

The best we could do with 2 baby boys!

Resting with DD

Getting our first little hugs from Big Brother

I wanted to take some time to write down my thoughts about baby Charlie so I can read and remember later. Charlie is truly the sweetest cuddliest little baby. He generally LOVES to be held most of the time. He loves to cuddle and we think it's funny that he's so unaffected by the chaos that his big brother can create. When he's awake, he wants to study everything and everyone and we love the way he takes the time to study each detail of a person's face and the room he's in. Most of my thoughts and opinions about Charlie are based on a comparison to how I remember Andrew as a baby. Charlie seems much more laid back (what a blessing for a second child!) and agreeable to our schedule. He even seems to enjoy bath time AND waiting patiently for his bath in his bouncy seat while Andrew screams, splashes and laughs during his! His one hatred in life is riding in his car seat for walks. I'm holding out hope that he will outgrow this :) Our family loves our walks outside. Charlie is relentless with his screams of dissatisfaction. We end up having to cut our walks short every time because it's so hot outside, and Charlie gets too sweaty and hot in his car seat. He is immediately happy and content once he's out of his carseat.

Charlie eats every 2-3 hours during the day and can (sometimes) go 5 hours at night. After a little bit of difficulty the first week, he has been great at nursing. Since this didn't go so well with Andrew, it's been a blessing to have things go so smoothly with Charlie... such an answered prayer. He does not enjoy getting a bottle, but he will let his nanny, Amanda, give him one easily most of the time. Other people he doesn't like very much and would prefer to just nurse. Hopefully the transition to bottles won't be too difficult for him when Mom goes back to work in Sept.

We had a beautiful Sip and See for Charlie on a Sunday at the end of July at Beth's house. The hostesses were Kara, Emily, Lauren & Beth. Lots of people came to meet Charlie and bring their well wishes for the family.

Mommy's friend Amy drove in from Austin

Granny and her 11th Great-Grandbaby!

Andrew has been a super sweet big brother. He has fallen in love with Charlie and has even started to come get Mommy if she's in another room and Andrew hears Charlie crying. For the first few weeks, Andrew tried testing how rough he could be with Charlie, which ended him in time out in his room for a minute for not listening and being gentle. We did this 3-4 times and Andrew hasn't tried being rough or hitting his baby brother after that. Sometimes Andrew likes to get his baby and blanket and try burping and laying his baby down for a nap like Mommy does with Charlie. Such a sweet big brother!

Happy 4th of July!

Andrew recently started showing signs for different things that he wants, like eat, all done, more, banana, and dog. It seems like each week, he shows us his knowledge of more baby signs. His nanny, Amanda, has been so wonderful to watch his Baby Signing Time video with him each day and reinforce these signs every day. She's also amazing at talking to him all the time and helping him learn new words. He's learning so much so quickly these days!

Here are a few more photos from the last few weeks:

Hanging out with Poppy

Showing him the backyard and the OWL in the tree!

Tummy time makes Charlie want to take a nap

"Mommy, cut it out with the pictures!"

"This elephant is perfect for my morning nap"

The first month has flown by!

O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me. Psalms 30:2

I'm writing this from the hospital as I hold Charlie in my arms. Our poor baby spiked a scary fever on Thursday night and we brought him to Cook Children's since the fever was rising above 101. Thankfully Kara came rushing over to stay with Andrew and DD came early on Friday morning so that we could both be at the hospital with Charlie. Kobie and Kasen came on Saturday afternoon to help.

After several invasive procedures to draw urine, blood and spinal fluid, we were sent to a room and told we'd be here until Sunday at the earliest. The doctors had to test for any bacterial infection since these are the most serious illnesses a newborn can get in the first few weeks. We have been pretty certain Charlie has a virus since Andrew has had a very minor cold the last few days, but bacteria is life threatening so the doctors have to rule that out first. Unfortunately those tests take 48 hours for results.

Charlie's temp has stayed around 102 for the first 36 hours or so and then has slowly started coming down. He wouldn't eat and was put on lots of antibiotics and fluids. It seemed like he can never rest as nurses have poked and messed with him incessantly during our stay. He's been miserable and it's been torturous to watch him have to go through so much at only 2 weeks old. I've had to remind myself countless times of the moms and dads who have been here for weeks and months with their little ones, and my heart breaks even more for them now after this experience. We've had only a small taste of what they're going through and it's been almost more than we can bear.

Today it's Sunday morning and we're hoping to be released to go home, but that will all depend on test results and how is fever is doing. We are desperate to be home together again all under one roof. I hope I never take healthy children asleep under our roof for granted again.

God has been so good to us and I know Charlie is in His hands. 

And big brother at home....