A Purposeful Peek

Charlotte Ann, Life is about to change for you. In bigger ways than your little mind can comprehend. Much bigger ways. You are about to become a Big Sister to a baby girl, who we pray will become your closest companion, best friend, and partner in crime during your childhood years and for the rest of your lives. You will learn to love her, protect her, and rely on her over time. But for right now, your world may feel like it's been turned upside down. You love babies...but when you realize that this one is here to stay, you may not be quite as thrilled as you are with our friends' babies who come and visit...and then go home.  When Momma's arms are constantly full (and a baby is literally attached to her most hours of the day) and Daddy suddenly has another "Daddy's girl," please know that you are no less important. In fact, your role as a Big Sister will only bring out your best qualities... you were born to be a leader of leaders, defender of the innoc...

Charlotte Ann, Our big TWO Year Old...you have brought more joy and laughter into our lives these past two years than we could have ever imagined! You are passionate, kind, hilarious, brilliant, and you carry the meaning of your name, "freedom" so well! There is no way to fully describe how much you've grown and changed this summer, but here are a few highlights: - You can identify every U.S. President's picture, thanks to a deck of cards at Mimi and Didi's house that you have become obsessed with! - Your most common phrase these days is, "Do it myself," or simply "I do it, do it, do it!!!"  - You can jump off the side of the swimming pool (with floaties) into the water "by myself," while instructing momma and daddy to back away. - You already proudly claim the role of "Big Sister" and love telling people about your "Baby Sisser in Momma's belly" Those are only a few examples of your ...

What do the following events have in common? Franklin D. Roosevelt established the March of Dimes. The first ski lift in the U.S. opened in Vermont. Adolf Hitler took direct control of the German military. Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia. Synthetic yarn was officially named "nylon." The tape recorder and ball point pen were invented. The year was 1938. What else happened that year? 1938 was the last year that the U.S. passed a federal law regulating the cosmetic industry. Now, I don't know about you, but as someone who works in a highly regulated healthcare industry, this fact is absolutely appalling to me.  I am very familiar with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 and thankful that it was implemented. However, let me just say that if we still regulated drugs only under laws that were last passed in 1938 (including this one)...well...I can't even tell you how scary that would be! Current buzzwords such as organic and all-natural mak...

Around here, we love finding a reason to celebrate!  Only two years ago, we were celebrating news of our baby girl at our March Maternity Madness gender reveal party, and so we wanted to carry on the tradition of a themed party to announce the gender of our newest little Peek.  With June being one of the hottest months in Oklahoma, it only seemed fitting to have a party that involved ice cream (okay, so maybe this momma's cravings also had something to do with that idea ;) A Friday evening ice cream social was a sweet and simple way to gather some local friends at our home as we announced the big news. Our theme, "Sweet Scoop of Joy: Girl or Boy?" was carried out by our friend/nanny/party planner extraordinaire Tiffany, who decked the house with ice cream cone balloons, stacking "scoops" for guests to cast their gender votes, and an all-you-can-eat ice cream sundae buffet.     Friends arrived and made their guesses while piling pi...

Oh sweet Charlotte, How can I even begin to sum up the last three months of your life? Your personality and imagination continue to blossom, and you are beginning to taste the freedom of independence as you enter the "do it myself" stage. It is such a joy to see you embrace who you are becoming...a little strong-willed, joyful, humorous blend of both your parents ; ) Personality in full bloom  You LOVE learning. You continue to choose books over toys any day, and you ask to read the same book "again" until you literally have it memorized.  Now, we can ask you to "read" to us, and you pretty accurately tell us the story by narrating the pictures and imitating the version we always tell (in your own simple words). You love singing the alphabet and have a recent obsession with identifying letters on street signs, labels, and any other item with a word on it. You love the letter "double" (W) the most and excitedly point it out wherever ...