Chain Mail...

I usually don't have time to read my chain e-mail, but Raleigh is in the shower with Trevor and Audrey is alseep in her crib, so I took a little time! This letter came from my mother-in-law, Pam, and it really hit home.

I have noticed the past couple of weeks that I have constantly been trying to prove that I am working hard, and I don't know why. I am always trying to evoke sympathy from Trevor by telling him how hard I work and how much poop I have been cleaning. I got mad at him for telling someone that my foot is all better when it really still hurts, I just can't stop doing things! I have been thinking a lot about my degree and how I am not using it. I have been telling the mommies that I run in to about how I was in medical school, even though it only was 2 months. I feel like I am underappreciated and I was even telling my mom how Raleigh makes me feel invisible. Audrey only seems to prefer me when she is hungry. Trevor tries to make me feel good, but he says I look good when my hair is in a bun that is falling to one side of my head, I am covered in stains, and I never wear make-up, so he is just being nice! We both are so tired all of the time that we rarely even look at each other unless we make an effort! The worst part is when a football game is on and then EVERYONE makes me feel invisible! I could have a whole conversation and I MIGHT get a smile out of Audrey!

Anyway, after I got this e-mail, it made me realize that what I am doing really IS important. You don't need a degree for it, but it hasn't hurt to have one! Even though I would love to sit Raleigh down and show him my college transcripts, he wouldn't care if I didn't have college transcripts! We truly have a happy family and I am confident that all of my hard work has helped create that atmosphere. It has been a bumpy road for me to learn to be a "housewife" and a "mommy," but I know I am raising two beautiful children who will hopefully grow into the strong, happy adults that I hope Trevor and I have turned into (thanks to our parents)! When I think back to when I was a kid, I had NO idea what kind of education my parents had and I didn't care. They raised me to be confident, proud, loving, caring and happy, which NO school could ever teach! They taught me how to raise a family, and I hope that I am passing that knowledge down to Raleigh and Audrey! I am working on leaving a legacy of love and compassion which is something that I think the world could use more of! Here's to strong, independent, happy children and the mommys and daddys behind the scenes!!!!

This is the e-mail...




Invisible Moms It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.' I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone! One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.' In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it. And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.' I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become. At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree. When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.' As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it r ight. An d one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women. Great Job, MOM! Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know... I just did. The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you. This is beautiful and makes a ton of sense. To all the wonderful mothers and fathers out there.

Petting the Kitty Cat

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Another Undies Pic

Mommy loves these undies so she had to take a pic. She said I look like a stud. Sorry it is blurry, but I walked away before she could take another one!

Daddy's Mischievous Monkeys

Here is Daddy entertaining us! Audrey was going for the remote and I was egging her on! Isn't this a cute picture?!

Niloo's Visit!!!

From Audrey.....

Niloo came to visit this past week and she came just in time! She was here when mom fell on the stairs, so she was able to help poor daddy out with us crazy kids!

Niloo and I bonded after starting out on the wrong foot. Aren't we cute?!
This is my bunny outfit from Niloo and Sarah, so I wore it while she was here. I am so dang cute!
My brother looks a little cranky here!
This IS Raleigh smiling!
Okay, mommy would never have that load of dirty laundry and dirty diapers next to Niloo in this picture!!! Sorry Niloo!

I'm so beautiful!
I wasn't happy that my brother didn't have pants on in this pic!
We are mommy's little angels!
This picture is better!
Here we are welcoming Niloo back! This is the first time she has seen me!

We are cuddle buddies!
Mommy made Raleigh raise his arms to cover her hair!
No one could get me to look at the camera. I decide when I want to look at the camera!
Buddies forever! We HEART Niloo!

More Pics and Vids to Come...

Mommy had some pictures and video all lined up to put online, BUT she tore some ligaments in her ankle and daddy is already annoyed with her, so it will have to wait! As soon as she can get off the crutches she will be back in business. She is going CRAZY not being able to just get up and move, and daddy is going CRAZY by having to do EVERYTHING for us kiddos AND for mom!!!

Raleigh Being Cute Again

Another cute thing Raleigh does...

Whenever he is in his bed sleeping and he hears Audrey crying or the cat crying (Cleo's cry sounds just like Audrey's), he yells "It's okay baby" from his room. It cracks us up!

Reaping the Rewards!

Raleigh gets lots of sugary treats since he does EVERY pee pee on the potty. This is him enjoying some cookies that we made together. This is also a good chance for me to type some things before I forget them...

New words to Raleigh's dictionary...

-Fungamingo, haha = Flamingo (the haha is because we always laugh when he says it)
-Yesternight = anything that happened in the past (whether a month ago or 10 minutes ago) happened yesternight.
-A longer bit = Whenever Raleigh wants to stay out a little longer he says, "Can we stay out a longer bit?"



Also, Audrey had her first laugh (video below), rolls from her back to her tummy and tries to roll the other way, can grab most of her toys, and still always wants to stand!

Daddy Time!

Here is Trevor enjoying his two little potatoes!

Audrey looks a little jealous in this picture!

Chubbs!

Here is our chubby, happy little girl!
How can you resist this body?!
And here is our other little adorable peanut who is always ready to have his picture taken!

The 'Rents

Here's Mom and Dad just to prove that they still like each other! It took a ton of pics to get one that daddy wasn't making a funny face in!

Raleigh versus Audrey

Wow does this toy get around!

Here's Audrey with it... And here's Raleigh at almost exactly the same age playing with it!

Flashing Audrey

Whenever Audrey wears a dress, she likes to pull it up and chew on it. She has a tendency to flash people!

Cruisin' Big Kid Style

Audrey got to have her first shot at riding big kid style in our stroller, and she LOVED it!!! She was a little toppled over by the time we got home, but she still had fun!

Cute Little Dress...We Think

We got this little dress from Mommy's cousin, Tracey, but it says the size is 6 months, so it might be a shirt! We think it looks pretty cute as a dress though! Thank you Robbins family!

It's That Time Again!!!

It's that time of year again when Daddy can't come home without clicking on the tv and putting on a football game! We all watched to Seahawks games (even though they lost both), but mommy tries to put her foot down on having the other games on all of the time! Here I am in my Shaun Alexander jersey, even though he is no longer with the Seahawks. Audrey doesn't have Seahawks attire yet, so we just dressed her up on the pretty pink dress she got from Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Sudduth. I thought she looked cute and I even called her a princess! Here is Daddy trying to entertain both of us so he could watch the game!

Audrey's 1st Laugh

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A Baby Elephant!

Today, we took a trip to the zoo to see the new baby elephant that was born 2 weeks ago! It is pretty big news up here in Oregon, and thanks to Grandma Judy and Grandpa Mark we have a membership so we could go take a peek! Mom saw the birth announcement on the news and told me, and I have not stopped talking about it since! We also went down to the Africa exhibit where we saw a lot more big animals that we didn't quite make it to last time!



Here is Audrey taking her nap while we were in line to see the baby elephant. Thank goodness she slept the whole time!

The zoo set up the line, so most of the time you were by the big elephants outside which kept me entertained while we waited. We found out those elephants were the baby's Aunts. I am sure he will love his Aunts as much as I love mine!!! They also had people holding hawks and vultures for us to see! It was really cool! Oh, and I did my first pee in public and I was so excited that I ran out of the bathroom yelling, "YAY! I went pee in the big zoo potty!"
Here I am looking at Auntie Elephant!
Audrey woke up as we got closer to the viewing room. She always goes straight for her hands when she wakes up!
And then gives mommy and daddy a BIG smile. This time they were able to catch it on camera!

Then she wanted to be held so she could see what was going on. I don't blame her!
There is the baby with its mommy! Tonight I was imitating how the baby was walking with its mommy!
We were all amazed! If you think we are crazy then you need to check it out for yourself! You don't get to these things very often in your life!
This was the mommy grabbing food with her HUGE trunk and the baby was trying to imitate her!

I can't believe this little guy weighs 300 lbs!!!! Mommy felt bad for complaining about giving birth to us at 7lbs!

Awwww! He was so cute!
Okay, now I am ready to go see the giraffes! Come on mom!
Here I am looking at the hippos! They came right by where we were and they were HUGE!!!!
This zebra was one of my favorites (besides the squirrel that was walking with us in the elephant line). He went to lay down and fell over and pooped at the same time. It was pretty funny!

Mommy's Little Helpers!

Here are my little helpers helping me make the bed by being the "pillow holders." Raleigh likes to jump on the bed while I make it, so I had to give him a new job and I made it more exciting by sitting Audrey next to him! See, I still am smarter than him!

3 Months!!!

Well Audrey is now 3 months old!!! We took her to the doctor's today for a check up and lots of vaccinations (that thankfully all fit in to 2 shots and a liquid she could eat). She is a little over tired because the appointment was during her long naptime and we went to storytime in the morning, but other than that she is a champ! She is in the 75th percentiles for length and weight and 50th percentile for head size. Raleigh was in the 25th percentile for length, 75th percentile for weight, and 50th percentile for head size. Its amazing how different they can be because they look so similar! Audrey seems small to me too, but it has been a while! Raleigh was so proud of his little sister for doing so well at her doctor's appointment because she smiled and talked up a storm with Dr. Smart. We followed our old pediatrician to her new practice, so we were pretty excited! Audrey also LOVES to roll off of our stomachs. She can stand really straight when we hold her...its amazing! She loves watching all of the kids at storytime, and she is sleeping about 5 hours/night (she wakes up 6 hours after eating). She's a beautiful little girl and its hard not to melt when she looks and smiles her big goofy smile at you!

As for Raleigh, he RARELY has an pee pee accident, but he still won't poop in the potty. Not sure what the heck to do, but we will figure it out! At least we can go out and not have to worry now! He is really proud of himself and gets Hot Wheels for poops and popsicles or cookies for pees. Yep, I love bribing him because it gives me a reason to eat cookies too! Raleigh has been EXTREMELY talkative and cracks us up all of the time. We were at the doctors and he was looking out the window at the street saying, "I can't pick one. There's too many. I like them all." He was talking about the cars driving by! He also got to meet some firemen the other day at the grocery store and got quite a kick out of that! We saw the firetruck at a stoplight, and when we got to the store we saw that they were there too!!! He jumped in the shopping cart with the fire truck on it, started yelling siren sounds and made us run through the store to find the firemen. We felt like dorks, but he was so excited when we finally saw them at the checkout. One of them even came up and gave him a sticker badge! He thought he was SO cool! I have also been giving him a lot more freedom in the house, which has paid off for me! I leave the stair gates open and he runs up and down all day long! He even will get me pacifiers, blankets, etc when I am on the opposite level! It is wonderful!