Charlotte Enters Double Digits!

Every birthday I wonder the same thing - where did the time go?  Seriously.  WHERE?  I haven't aged a bit.  I'm not getting any older - why do my kids insist on growing up?  It just amazes me.  One minute you are teaching a sweet little girl how to tie her shoes and sing her alphabet and then the next instant she is texting boys on a phone she bought with her babysitting money and driving me around town.  I just don't understand how it happens.  But it does happen.  This Thursday, it happened to Charlotte.

When I found out I was pregnant with Charlotte I was already five months along.  I was thrilled.  I was facing a four month pregnancy and I felt great!  Then, the doctor gave James and I the news.  It shook us to our core.  Charlotte was a high risk of being born with Downs Syndrome.  Her measurements just weren't coming out right and we should prepare ourselves for a child with special needs.  The doctor asked us if we wanted to abort.  Uhm, no?!

Charlotte was a scheduled c-section and even though she was actually due on January 5, James and I scheduled her birth for December 27 - we wanted the tax deduction in this year, not just next year.  All went well and she was born healthy and robust - the largest baby I delivered of our five - at 9 pounds, 14 ounces. 

Charlotte is the third girl in our family, and since James and I felt like we had met the family expectations in naming Charlotte's older sisters with the family names of James' mom and my mom, and we were at liberty to name Charlotte after anyone we pleased.  We chose the middle name of Lareine - which is wholly fabricated.  La reine is the French word for the Queen.  And so she is - Queen Charlotte of BallTeam.

 

Fun Charlie Facts:::::

 

Charlotte loves the water and in the background of the balloon picture you can see her fish tank - her fish all have names and personalities and she is diligent in caring for their every fishy desire.

 

Charlotte loves the water, and loves to swim.  She consistantly places in the top leaders for her age divisions in the state.  She wants to swim in the 2016 Olympics and meet Ryan Lochte.

 

Charlotte loves to sing.  The house is full of her voice.  She can wear her sisters clothes and my shoes are too small for her.

 

Charlotte will soon - very soon - join her older two sisters in being taller than Mom.

 

Charlotte loves math and science, and is not fond of reading.  She is constant motion and is never lacking for a friend to play with or the imagination to start a game.

 

Charlotte is our middle child and while she is anxious to join her sisters in babysitting and taking on reponsibility, she is excited to have a babysitter coming for New Years and play games with the little kids at our house.  She is truly a middle child in that she works well with her older sisters or her younger brother and sister.

 

Charlotte is our cook - she loves to be in the kitchen.  She thinks of others and is willing to learn new things.  Her favorite color is teal and she wants to own a Subway and coach a swim team after she wins the gold medals at the Olympics.

 

We love our Charlie girl!  Happy Birthday, Charlotte Lareine!