Quick trip back "home".

Earlier this month Charlotte and I hopped on a plane back to Utah to visit with my brother one last time before he entered the MTC and began his two year mission to Tampico, Mexico. Another Spanish missionary for the Fausett family. So exciting. We'll miss him SO MUCH but it makes it easier to have him go, knowing that he'll return as a better, stronger, happier (&probably even taller) man!

I'm hoping that once Zach gets home we'll all take a family trip to South America because Machu Picchu has always been strong on my bucket list.

A few days later Mike joined us in Utah. Every day of this trip was jam-packed and we didn't get to see everyone we wanted. I'm hoping for a Christmas stay that will be longer, making it possible to catch up with all our close friends.
Charlotte loved the ridiculous amount of attention she got from all four grandparents (+cousins, aunts, uncles and greats).

Basically Utah is great. We miss it, even though we pretend not to sometimes. Mike and I both consider it "home" still. I wonder if that will always be the case?

 

 Last goodbyes with Uncle Zach.

I totally get the Nelson obsession with Jeeps now.

 Charlotte LOVED Park City.. until it poured.

 Grandma Nette

Grandpa Gary introducing C to the llamas. She had NO IDEA how to handle what she saw.

I'm baaaaaack. For now.
And we've relocated -- to Arizona!
Not sure why I stopped blogging for so long. I've had some time on my hands. I guess I'd rather watch Gossip Girl during Charlotte's nap time than do anything meaningful.
Honesty, right?

I wish I could say that in my absence I've been making our new home beautiful with all sorts of Pinterest creations and decor finds. That I've been baking new things daily. That I've been buying fresh flowers at the local market for our dining table. None of that is true.

Charlotte and I have been straight chillin'. Our little condo here in Scottsdale is a hodge-podge eclectic mix of wicker furniture the landlords left for us, some things from my in laws and a couple items purchased from Ikea during our newlywed years. Seriously. So pictures will have to wait.

BUT Charlotte and I have been partying a ton.
Partying at the local library during storytime. Partying at the local splash pads and pools. Partying at the bakery, gym and Target. Partying with the few visitors we've had.
I love spending every waking moment with Miss C.

Now, I present to you some crappy iPhone pictures of my baby.

eight whole months looks good on you, girl!

five months.

Ms. Charlotte Rose Nelson is now 5 months.
I'm not trying to brag or anything but my daughter is awesome. Pretty sure I won the baby lottery because she is SO fun, full of personality and pretty interactive already. I'm making it a point to soak up every moment with my tiny girl because she certainly isn't staying tiny forever. Today she proved that when she rolled the entire length of our living room. Granted, our living room is pretty small... but I was impressed!

By the way, Mikey has taken it upon himself to nickname her Char Char Binks (Star Wars joke, I guess?) so if you hear him say that, please do me a favor and do NOT encourage it. Thanks.

Don'tcha wanna squeeze those cheeks?

our little easter.

The morning started with an epic pancake fail. How does one screw up pancakes? Easily. They tasted disgusting... so I'll just stick to green smoothies and cereal for breakfast. Then we all took a glorious late morning nap. Bless our sweet Charlotte for sleeping well that morning! Church was fantastic. She spent nearly all of it with her Grampa Gary. He's kind of a Charlotte time-hoarder, especially now that we're leaving for Arizona in a month. After church we had family egg hunt with the cousins, a delicious dinner (I love any dinner that includes honey ham and green bean casserole) and ended with a walk along Bountiful Blvd just in time to see the sunset. 

 I feel humbled by the love of our Savior. He lived, suffered and died because he knows that I'm not perfect. He never blames me for my wrongs. He knows that I needed someone to atone for all of my mistakes, imperfections & sins so that I might live with my Heavenly Father, Him & my little family forever. How do you adequately express gratitude for that kind of love? I'm not sure. The thought alone continues to bring an abundance of emotion. 

Definitely a perfect Easter Sunday.

not quite there yet.

If I told you that feeding Charlotte solids was the funniest thing to date, would you believe me?
Probably not. And honestly, there are funnier things in life than seeing a baby have food forced upon them.... but seriously, we about died laughing at her reaction.
She HATES solids. And yes, we've tried a number of things. We started with spinach and banana blended and she was terrified. It didn't get any better with mashed avocado or rice cereal. This girl just isn't ready to take plunge.

 Personal favorite.

 Letting Grampa and Nana in on the action.

Fine Charlotte, you don't have to excel at everything.

starting up again.

My poor little blog has been neglected.
I know exactly why. The convenience that Instagram and Facebook offer keep me rather in the loop and so I hardly bother with blogs anymore. I rarely read them. I more rarely update mine. Just yesterday I was thinking how sad it is that I haven't taken the time to document the details.
I take pictures of daily life like it's my job. Like it's my full-time, baby-lovin' job. SO I just need to take it one step further and blog it.
I'm going to start doing that now in hopes that I don't seem quite so pathetic when I am blogging like a madwoman when we move to Arizona. (I'll say it's not due to boredom and unpopularity... but it will be.)

Anyway,
I won't attempt to let catch up on all the things that I've missed since December but here are the highlights, perchance you only read my blog or haven't looked at Facebook/Instagram in ages.

-- We're moving to Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ in two months. Mike was offered a job transfer with his company so we are taking the plunge. By our own choice, it may be temporary (a year or so) or it could turn into something more permanent. We'll see...

-- Umm... pretty much all the Holidays -Christmas/New Years/Valentines Day- came and went. We spent two weeks around Christmas with my family in Pittsburgh. It was fantastic. And a much needed break for Mike. Charlotte finally met her Grampa and Uncle Zach, we went to Kirtland and enjoyed many church history sites, Cleveland and the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame and lots of local dives. Gosh dang it... vacations are the best.

-- Charlotte is growing fast. Sounds obvious to most but I really wasn't prepared for her changes to happen so rapidly. I swear she learns something new EVERY SINGLE DAY. Before we know it, she'll be borrowing the family car and dating guys that we don't like.
This week we had her 4 month check up and shots. She handled it like a champ. We found out she's 13 lbs 4 oz (40th%) and 25 inches (80th%). Where is she getting this long, lean body?! Not from us. My guess is that she'll be fattening up soon because we're starting on solids this month! Oh, the excitement. Messy food-all-over-the-face pictures to come soon, I'm sure.

Cute, huh?

my new life.

It's safe to say that Charlotte IS my life now.

Just a couple months ago, I was working a full time job, going on dinner dates with Mikey, eating whatever I wanted and sleeping as much as a severely pregnant woman can. Life was good...

Now, life is great!... but I'm not doing a single thing I just mentioned. Baby Charlotte makes things a little difficult in that regard. These past 40 days have been full of so much emotion. I've learned to sleep in 1-3 hour increments, consider cereal to be dinner often, try to get out of the house every other day (for my own sanity) and do laundry every single day or we will run out of burp cloths. Above all, I have more love than I can put into words. I'm on a love high. 

Since her birth on November 1st, there have been so many baby "milestones" (if you can call them that?) that we've already experienced with C. At the top of the list? Her smiles. In the morning, she smiles like it's going out of style. 

It makes my heart melt. 

I'll try getting around to posting her birth story later this week, but for now... here are some pictures so you can fall a little in love too.

 Day one.

C's first outing. Headed to the pediatrician at 4 days old. 

 One week old. I know... could she have any more shades of pink?

Girl is throwin' gang signs. 

About a week ago,  Charlotte had soaked through her 4th outfit of the day. 

It was decided... Naked does less damage.